The koinobiont parasitoid Halticoptera circulus (Walker) is a potential biological control agent of leafminers, but it has only rarely been collected from the invasive leafminer, Liriomyza trifolii (Burgess), in Japan. To understand why this is the case, parasitism and development of H. circulus in L. trifolii was compared with parasitism and development in two indigenous leafminer species, Liriomyza chinensis Kato and Chromatomyia horticola (Goureau). There was no significant difference in parasitism rates by H. circulus in the three leafminer species and the eggs and larvae successfully developed in L. chinensis and C. horticola. However, H. circulus failed to develop in L. trifolii, where developmental stages were encapsulated by host haemocytes. This parasitoid may be a good agent to control indigenous leafminers such as L. chinensis and C. horticola but is unlikely to be useful for the biological control of the invasive L. trifolii in Japan.