Psyllaephagus iridis, parasitoid of Lasiopsylla striata

The taxonomic framework for describing new species of Psyllaephagus in Australia is largely intractable, and as such the genus has been neglected for almost 40 years. The repercussions of this include an absence of accurate host association records among Psyllaephagus and their hosts, several genera of lerp forming psyllids which are ubiquitous on eucalypt spp. across Australia. In response, and to demonstrate the feasibility of robust and rapid species descriptions, here we present a new species and the first record of a eucalypt host association for the psyllid Lasiopsylla striata Froggatt 1923, from a previously unsampled location. It is the first instance where an Australian species of Psyllaephagus is described from accurately recorded reared material.