Hiding in plain sight: Cryptic enemies are found on cochineal (Hemiptera: Dactylopiidae), a scale insect of economic and cultural significance.

Cochineal is the common name for cactus-feeding scale insects in the Dactylopiidae. These ruby-red insects include the domesticated dye insect . and congeners have been introduced around the world, some accidentally, to become pests of prickly pear cactus species (), and some intentionally, for dye production or biological control of pest In the northern Sonoran Desert (Tucson, AZ, USA), we studied the enemy complex of and on and characterized two cryptic enemies, a coccinellid beetle predator and a parasitoid wasp. (1) sp The coccinellid predator shares a niche with a similar, typically all-black beetle. Morphological data, crossing tests, and phylogenetic results showed the black beetle to be a distinct, undescribed species in the genus , with a rare spotted phenotype that is similar in appearance to Crossing tests among black and spotted forms showed the spotted morph is inherited as a single-locus dominant allele. (2) Rearing of this ant-like parasitoid wasp (Encyrtidae) in pure culture of showed it to be a semi-gregarious primary parasitoid of cochineal To our knowledge, this is the first confirmed instance of a cochineal parasitoid. Observations of development show early instar larvae keep their posterior end within the egg chorion, attached to an aeroscopic plate with a connection to the cochineal body wall. Late instar larvae are eventually surrounded by a membrane, likely of larval origin. Wasps then pupate in a dry air-filled chamber within the desiccated scale remains before chewing out as an adult. Both sp. and may have restricted distributions. sp. does not appear to be a member of the cochineal community in Mexico or Texas, and scant records suggest may also be restricted to the Southwestern USA.