New species of Leiophron (Hymenoptera: Braconidae, Euphorinae) from Kenya

A new species of braconid, Leiophron schusteri Loan, which parasitizes mirid nymphs is described and illustrated from specimens reared from Taylorilygus vosseleri (Poppius) and T. virens (Taylor) collected in Nyanza Province, Kenya. A method of separating it from Leiophron ariomedes Nixon and L. daicles Nixon in Nixon's (1946) key to African species is provided. The parasite was reared for more than 2 years in the Stoneville Research Quarantine Facility, Stoneville, Mississippi using Lygus hesperus Knight and L. lineolaris (Palisot de Beauvois) nymphs as hosts. Field releases of low numbers of adult parasites for Lygus control were made in Mississippi and Texas in 1987.