Kiggaella

Taxobox
name = "Kiggaella"
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Arthropoda
classis = Insecta
ordo = Hymenoptera
subordo = Apocrita
superfamilia = Chalcidoidea
familia = Eulophidae
genus = "Kiggaella"
genus_authority = Narandran, 2005
species = "K. oryzae"
binomial = "Kiggaella oryzae"
binomial_authority = Narandran, 2005

"Kiggaella" is a genus of hymenopteran insects belonging to the family Eulophidae. There is currently just one described species, "Kiggaella oryzae", only known from rice paddies in Karnataka and Kerala States, India.

"K. oryzae" has a body length of around 1.2 mm. This insect can be distinguished from similar "Minotetrastichus spp" by the lack of any grooves in the scutellum, wings more than three times as long as broad and one pair of cercal setae much longer than the others.

This insect is clearly a parasitoid although the host species as yet is unknown. Its association with paddy fields suggests it may parasitise a pest of rice which could give it potential as a biological control agent.

References

*cite journal |url=http://nairssanthosh.googlepages.com/Kiggaella.pdf |title=On a new genus and a new species of Eulophidae (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea) from the paddy fields of Southern India |journal=Zoos' Print Journal |volume=20(7) |year=2005 |author=T. C. Narendran et al. |pages=1915-1916