Alexandrakis, V., & Neuenschwander, P. 1980 Le rôle d'Aphytis chilensis, parasite d'Aspidiotus nerii sur olivier en Crète. [The role of Aphytis chilensis (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae), the main parasite of Aspidiotus nerii (Homoptera: Diaspididae) on olive trees in Crete, Greece.]. Entomophaga 25: 61-71.
Notes: The parthenogenetic strain of A. chilensis in Greece shows two maxima of abundance, one in spring and the other in autumn. In 79.2% of all cases the parasite attacks young female of A. nerii, in 18.9% male pronymphs, and it is found only rarely on ovipositing female , male L2 or nymphs. Up to 4 parasites can develop on a young scale female . Of all scales, 40.2% exhibit superparasitism at the egg level, which then decreases to 13.7% in the nymphs. This parasite is capable of maintaining a high parasitization rate over a wide range of host densities (2-20 parasitizable scales/ leaf). The parasite is more efficient on old leaves than on new ones. For every living immature parasite found in a sample, the aprasite female has killed another young scale female through host-feeding. Over a period of 4 yr each peak in active parasitism, which increases from 18.4% in 1975 to 61.4% in 1977, coincides with a corresponding increase in the maximum scale mortality, which runs from 61.7-88.2%. During the same period the scale density dropped about 20 times. These results demonstrate the practical importance of the indigenous A. chilensis in the biological control of A. nerii.