Host testing of Eadya daenerys, a potential biological control agent for the invasive chrysomelid pest Paropsis charybdis, predicts host specificity to eucalypt-leaf feeding Paropsina

Host range testing of a larval endoparasitoid <em>Eadya daenerys</em> Ridenbaugh (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) was conducted. <em>Eadya daenerys</em> is most commonly associated with <em>Paropsisterna agricola</em> (Chapuis) in Australia, but is proposed as a biological control agent for <em>Paropsis charybdis</em> Stål (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) in New Zealand. Nine species of non-target beetles with spring-active, external leaf-feeding larvae, were host tested. Development to emergence only occurred within eucalypt-feeding Paropsina pests: the target <em>P. charybdis</em> and another pest <em>Trachymela sloanei</em> (Blackburn). Unsuccessful internal parasitism occurred in four less closely related non-target Chrysomelinae. Considering the different feeding niches occupied by these beetles, we hypothesize that <em>Eadya daenerys</em> is unlikely to cause direct non-target impacts beyond pest Paropsina species in the New Zealand environment.<p></p>