Parasitoid wasp
Videos
Parasitoid wasps are a large group of hymenopteran superfamilies, with all but the wood wasps being in the wasp-waisted Apocrita. As parasitoids, they lay their eggs on or in the bodies of other arthr
Megarhyssa macrurus (Ichneumonidae), a parasitoid, ovipositing into its host through the wood of a tree. The body of a female is c. 2 inches (50 mm) long, with an ovipositor c. 4 inches (100 mm) long.
Spider wasp (Pompilidae), an idiobiont, carrying a jumping spider she has just paralysed back to her nest, where she lays an egg on it.
but endoparasitic koinobiont wasp larvae eventually fill its body and kill it.
Hornworm with parasitic wasp cocoons
Biological pest control
Videos
Biological control or biocontrol is a method of controlling pests, whether pest animals such as insects and mites, weeds, or pathogens affecting animals or plants by using other organisms. It relies o
Syrphus hoverfly larva (below) feed on aphids (above), making them natural biological control agents.
A parasitoid wasp (Cotesia congregata) adult with pupal cocoons on its host, a tobacco hornworm (Manduca sexta, green background), an example of a hymenopteran biological control agent
Cactoblastis cactorum larvae feeding on Opuntia prickly pear cacti
Rodolia cardinalis, the vedalia beetle, was imported from Australia to California in the 19th century, successfully controlling cottony cushion scale on orange trees.