#brassicaceae

After being recorded as a parasitoid of larvae of the pest Plutella xylostella (L.) in April 2016, the species Brachymeria excarinata Gahan (Chalcidoidea) was subsequently identified among individuals emerging from cocoons of the parasitoid Diadegma insulare (Cresson). Later in the same study, individuals of Pteromalus sp. (Pteromalidae) also emerged from cocoons of D. insulare. Specimens of both hymenopteran species were collected from cabbage (Brassica oleracea L., Brassicaceae) fields at Lac Rose (14°49′52.93″ N, 17°09′20.94″ W), Senegal. This study represents the first simultaneous record of these parasitoids as hyperparasitoids of D. insulare in Senegal and in West Africa. Both species parasitized the cocoons of the primary parasitoid from which they subsequently emerged during laboratory monitoring. Specimens were identified by Gérard Delvare, an international taxonomist and specialist of Chalcidoidea (Hymenoptera). At Lac Rose, the mean minimum annual temperature during the sampling period was 23 °C. The occurrence of these two species as secondary parasitoids may play an important role in shaping the parasitoid complex associated with the pest P. xylostella.