#parasitoids — Public Fediverse posts

@b_age Nice photo. Now wondering which parasitoid wasp ventures into that brush of deadly spikes, for surely there is at least one that does. I further wonder whether there's a database of parasitoid wasps with their known hosts?
#entomology #parasitoids #wasps

#Mainers! Here's your chance to help fight #EmeraldAshBorer!

#MaineForestryService - Emerald Ash Borer (Agrilus planipennis) Update

September 22, 2025

"Since 2019, MFS has been releasing parasitoid wasps for the long-term management of emerald ash borer (#EAB) in the forests of Maine. These are tiny, non-stinging members of the order Hymenoptera, and they specialize in EAB. In most cases, they will not keep the mature trees already in the forest alive, but there is evidence from other states that have had EAB longer than we have that these #wasps provide protection to the seedlings and saplings as they grow. We are attempting to release them in as many areas with EAB as possible so that they can eventually spread throughout the state, allowing ash to remain in #Maine’s forests.

"As of 2025, we have released these #parasitoids in 20 sites throughout the range of EAB. Of the ten sites that are at the stage where we can start monitoring for their establishment, we have recovered one or both of Spathius or Tetrastichus at five of them: four in #YorkCounty and one in northern #Aroostook. We are still years away from actual control of EAB, but it is encouraging to start recovering parasitoids.

"With the many new detections of EAB in Maine in recent years, we would like to establish new biological control release sites. The ash-dominated forests that serve as release sites can be public or privately owned. Many of our cooperators are private woodlot owners. Ideally, we would like to ship biological control directly to a local landowner or manager and have them conduct releases after training by MFS. The releases take 5-15 minutes, 4-6 times a summer for two summers. We are looking for new release sites in areas where EAB has recently become established. Specifically, we would like to find sites in or near #BarHarborME, #SolonME, #BelfastME, the #BathME / #BrunswickME area, #CoastalMaine south of #PortlandME, and #WesternMaine west of #LewistonME. If you have forested land in one of these areas and are potentially interested in having it become a biological release site, please review the guidelines and information about EAB biocontrol available on-line, and email foresthealth @ maine . gov (no spaces) with the town in which your ash stand is, the approximate acreage of ash, and the coordinates (approximate is fine) of the stand. If it looks like your land would be suitable for a biological control site, we will reach out to you."

Source:
Emailed newsletter

Link to guidelines (PDF):
https://www.maine.gov/dacf/mfs/forest_health/invasive_threats/eab/documents/meeting-082020/Emerald%20Ash%20Borer%20Biocontrol%20Info%20For%20Potential%20Cooperators.pdf

#InvasiveSpecies #AshTrees #SaveTheForests #ProtectTheSacred #Wabanaki #Basketry #SolarPunkSunday #Biocontrol

#Mainers! Here's your chance to help fight #EmeraldAshBorer!

#MaineForestryService - Emerald Ash Borer (Agrilus planipennis) Update

September 22, 2025

"Since 2019, MFS has been releasing parasitoid wasps for the long-term management of emerald ash borer (#EAB) in the forests of Maine. These are tiny, non-stinging members of the order Hymenoptera, and they specialize in EAB. In most cases, they will not keep the mature trees already in the forest alive, but there is evidence from other states that have had EAB longer than we have that these #wasps provide protection to the seedlings and saplings as they grow. We are attempting to release them in as many areas with EAB as possible so that they can eventually spread throughout the state, allowing ash to remain in #Maine’s forests.

"As of 2025, we have released these #parasitoids in 20 sites throughout the range of EAB. Of the ten sites that are at the stage where we can start monitoring for their establishment, we have recovered one or both of Spathius or Tetrastichus at five of them: four in #YorkCounty and one in northern #Aroostook. We are still years away from actual control of EAB, but it is encouraging to start recovering parasitoids.

"With the many new detections of EAB in Maine in recent years, we would like to establish new biological control release sites. The ash-dominated forests that serve as release sites can be public or privately owned. Many of our cooperators are private woodlot owners. Ideally, we would like to ship biological control directly to a local landowner or manager and have them conduct releases after training by MFS. The releases take 5-15 minutes, 4-6 times a summer for two summers. We are looking for new release sites in areas where EAB has recently become established. Specifically, we would like to find sites in or near #BarHarborME, #SolonME, #BelfastME, the #BathME / #BrunswickME area, #CoastalMaine south of #PortlandME, and #WesternMaine west of #LewistonME. If you have forested land in one of these areas and are potentially interested in having it become a biological release site, please review the guidelines and information about EAB biocontrol available on-line, and email foresthealth @ maine . gov (no spaces) with the town in which your ash stand is, the approximate acreage of ash, and the coordinates (approximate is fine) of the stand. If it looks like your land would be suitable for a biological control site, we will reach out to you."

Source:
Emailed newsletter

Link to guidelines (PDF):
https://www.maine.gov/dacf/mfs/forest_health/invasive_threats/eab/documents/meeting-082020/Emerald%20Ash%20Borer%20Biocontrol%20Info%20For%20Potential%20Cooperators.pdf

#InvasiveSpecies #AshTrees #SaveTheForests #ProtectTheSacred #Wabanaki #Basketry #SolarPunkSunday #Biocontrol

#Mainers! Here's your chance to help fight #EmeraldAshBorer!

#MaineForestryService - Emerald Ash Borer (Agrilus planipennis) Update

September 22, 2025

"Since 2019, MFS has been releasing parasitoid wasps for the long-term management of emerald ash borer (#EAB) in the forests of Maine. These are tiny, non-stinging members of the order Hymenoptera, and they specialize in EAB. In most cases, they will not keep the mature trees already in the forest alive, but there is evidence from other states that have had EAB longer than we have that these #wasps provide protection to the seedlings and saplings as they grow. We are attempting to release them in as many areas with EAB as possible so that they can eventually spread throughout the state, allowing ash to remain in #Maine’s forests.

"As of 2025, we have released these #parasitoids in 20 sites throughout the range of EAB. Of the ten sites that are at the stage where we can start monitoring for their establishment, we have recovered one or both of Spathius or Tetrastichus at five of them: four in #YorkCounty and one in northern #Aroostook. We are still years away from actual control of EAB, but it is encouraging to start recovering parasitoids.

"With the many new detections of EAB in Maine in recent years, we would like to establish new biological control release sites. The ash-dominated forests that serve as release sites can be public or privately owned. Many of our cooperators are private woodlot owners. Ideally, we would like to ship biological control directly to a local landowner or manager and have them conduct releases after training by MFS. The releases take 5-15 minutes, 4-6 times a summer for two summers. We are looking for new release sites in areas where EAB has recently become established. Specifically, we would like to find sites in or near #BarHarborME, #SolonME, #BelfastME, the #BathME / #BrunswickME area, #CoastalMaine south of #PortlandME, and #WesternMaine west of #LewistonME. If you have forested land in one of these areas and are potentially interested in having it become a biological release site, please review the guidelines and information about EAB biocontrol available on-line, and email foresthealth @ maine . gov (no spaces) with the town in which your ash stand is, the approximate acreage of ash, and the coordinates (approximate is fine) of the stand. If it looks like your land would be suitable for a biological control site, we will reach out to you."

Source:
Emailed newsletter

Link to guidelines (PDF):
https://www.maine.gov/dacf/mfs/forest_health/invasive_threats/eab/documents/meeting-082020/Emerald%20Ash%20Borer%20Biocontrol%20Info%20For%20Potential%20Cooperators.pdf

#InvasiveSpecies #AshTrees #SaveTheForests #ProtectTheSacred #Wabanaki #Basketry #SolarPunkSunday #Biocontrol

#Mainers! Here's your chance to help fight #EmeraldAshBorer!

#MaineForestryService - Emerald Ash Borer (Agrilus planipennis) Update

September 22, 2025

"Since 2019, MFS has been releasing parasitoid wasps for the long-term management of emerald ash borer (#EAB) in the forests of Maine. These are tiny, non-stinging members of the order Hymenoptera, and they specialize in EAB. In most cases, they will not keep the mature trees already in the forest alive, but there is evidence from other states that have had EAB longer than we have that these #wasps provide protection to the seedlings and saplings as they grow. We are attempting to release them in as many areas with EAB as possible so that they can eventually spread throughout the state, allowing ash to remain in #Maine’s forests.

"As of 2025, we have released these #parasitoids in 20 sites throughout the range of EAB. Of the ten sites that are at the stage where we can start monitoring for their establishment, we have recovered one or both of Spathius or Tetrastichus at five of them: four in #YorkCounty and one in northern #Aroostook. We are still years away from actual control of EAB, but it is encouraging to start recovering parasitoids.

"With the many new detections of EAB in Maine in recent years, we would like to establish new biological control release sites. The ash-dominated forests that serve as release sites can be public or privately owned. Many of our cooperators are private woodlot owners. Ideally, we would like to ship biological control directly to a local landowner or manager and have them conduct releases after training by MFS. The releases take 5-15 minutes, 4-6 times a summer for two summers. We are looking for new release sites in areas where EAB has recently become established. Specifically, we would like to find sites in or near #BarHarborME, #SolonME, #BelfastME, the #BathME / #BrunswickME area, #CoastalMaine south of #PortlandME, and #WesternMaine west of #LewistonME. If you have forested land in one of these areas and are potentially interested in having it become a biological release site, please review the guidelines and information about EAB biocontrol available on-line, and email foresthealth @ maine . gov (no spaces) with the town in which your ash stand is, the approximate acreage of ash, and the coordinates (approximate is fine) of the stand. If it looks like your land would be suitable for a biological control site, we will reach out to you."

Source:
Emailed newsletter

Link to guidelines (PDF):
https://www.maine.gov/dacf/mfs/forest_health/invasive_threats/eab/documents/meeting-082020/Emerald%20Ash%20Borer%20Biocontrol%20Info%20For%20Potential%20Cooperators.pdf

#InvasiveSpecies #AshTrees #SaveTheForests #ProtectTheSacred #Wabanaki #Basketry #SolarPunkSunday #Biocontrol

#Mainers! Here's your chance to help fight #EmeraldAshBorer!

#MaineForestryService - Emerald Ash Borer (Agrilus planipennis) Update

September 22, 2025

"Since 2019, MFS has been releasing parasitoid wasps for the long-term management of emerald ash borer (#EAB) in the forests of Maine. These are tiny, non-stinging members of the order Hymenoptera, and they specialize in EAB. In most cases, they will not keep the mature trees already in the forest alive, but there is evidence from other states that have had EAB longer than we have that these #wasps provide protection to the seedlings and saplings as they grow. We are attempting to release them in as many areas with EAB as possible so that they can eventually spread throughout the state, allowing ash to remain in #Maine’s forests.

"As of 2025, we have released these #parasitoids in 20 sites throughout the range of EAB. Of the ten sites that are at the stage where we can start monitoring for their establishment, we have recovered one or both of Spathius or Tetrastichus at five of them: four in #YorkCounty and one in northern #Aroostook. We are still years away from actual control of EAB, but it is encouraging to start recovering parasitoids.

"With the many new detections of EAB in Maine in recent years, we would like to establish new biological control release sites. The ash-dominated forests that serve as release sites can be public or privately owned. Many of our cooperators are private woodlot owners. Ideally, we would like to ship biological control directly to a local landowner or manager and have them conduct releases after training by MFS. The releases take 5-15 minutes, 4-6 times a summer for two summers. We are looking for new release sites in areas where EAB has recently become established. Specifically, we would like to find sites in or near #BarHarborME, #SolonME, #BelfastME, the #BathME / #BrunswickME area, #CoastalMaine south of #PortlandME, and #WesternMaine west of #LewistonME. If you have forested land in one of these areas and are potentially interested in having it become a biological release site, please review the guidelines and information about EAB biocontrol available on-line, and email foresthealth @ maine . gov (no spaces) with the town in which your ash stand is, the approximate acreage of ash, and the coordinates (approximate is fine) of the stand. If it looks like your land would be suitable for a biological control site, we will reach out to you."

Source:
Emailed newsletter

Link to guidelines (PDF):
https://www.maine.gov/dacf/mfs/forest_health/invasive_threats/eab/documents/meeting-082020/Emerald%20Ash%20Borer%20Biocontrol%20Info%20For%20Potential%20Cooperators.pdf

#InvasiveSpecies #AshTrees #SaveTheForests #ProtectTheSacred #Wabanaki #Basketry #SolarPunkSunday #Biocontrol

💡 Did you know: Some wasps build mud nests with live prey paralyzed by a precise sting, then lay an egg beside it so the larva has fresh food when it hatches, while others deposit eggs in living hosts, allowing larvae to develop hidden within. Both are finely tuned adaptations of evolution.

📝 Read on: https://TPC8.short.gy/iYor9Y2v

🐝 Two strategies. One goal. Survival.

#Wildlife #Biodiversity #Nature #Entomology #InsectLifeCycle #InsectBehavior #Wasps #Larva #Insects #Parasitoids #Pollinators #TPC8

Spotted Bee Fly (Anthrax irroratus) larvae are parasitoids of solitary bees and wasps, living in close association with their hosts and ultimately causing the host’s death.

#parasitoids #beeflies #nature #wildlife #california

Séminaire de Maximilien ADAM

▶️Interactions among hosts, #microorganisms and #parasitoids

📅Vendredi 23 mai à 12h

▶️ https://www.ideev.universite-paris-saclay.fr/seminaires/2025/05/interactions-among-hosts-microorganisms-and-parasitoids

@inrae_france @[email protected] @[email protected] #universitemontpellier #ideev #semideev #seminaire

#Cuckoowasps (#Chrysididae) always have a close relationship with other insects, mostly other #Hymenoptera, they can be brood parisites, which kill the host larva but mostly feeding their #foodsupply. They can also be #parasitoids that feed on older larvae or pupae. I previously identified the species shown as #Hedychrum #rutilans, but it may be H. #gerstaeckeri, the #hosts would then be: #Cerceris rybyensis and C. ruficornis. #biodiversity
© #StefanFWirth #Berlin 2020, new edit & text 2025

#Cuckoowasps (#Chrysididae) always have a close relationship with other insects, mostly other #Hymenoptera, they can be brood parisites, which kill the host larva but mostly feeding their #foodsupply. They can also be #parasitoids that feed on older larvae or pupae. I previously identified the species shown as #Hedychrum #rutilans, but it may be H. #gerstaeckeri, the #hosts would then be: #Cerceris rybyensis and C. ruficornis. #biodiversity
© #StefanFWirth #Berlin 2020, new edit & text 2025

#Cuckoowasps (#Chrysididae) always have a close relationship with other insects, mostly other #Hymenoptera, they can be brood parisites, which kill the host larva but mostly feeding their #foodsupply. They can also be #parasitoids that feed on older larvae or pupae. I previously identified the species shown as #Hedychrum #rutilans, but it may be H. #gerstaeckeri, the #hosts would then be: #Cerceris rybyensis and C. ruficornis. #biodiversity
© #StefanFWirth #Berlin 2020, new edit & text 2025

#Cuckoowasps (#Chrysididae) always have a close relationship with other insects, mostly other #Hymenoptera, they can be brood parisites, which kill the host larva but mostly feeding their #foodsupply. They can also be #parasitoids that feed on older larvae or pupae. I previously identified the species shown as #Hedychrum #rutilans, but it may be H. #gerstaeckeri, the #hosts would then be: #Cerceris rybyensis and C. ruficornis. #biodiversity
© #StefanFWirth #Berlin 2020, new edit & text 2025

#Cuckoowasps (#Chrysididae) always have a close relationship with other insects, mostly other #Hymenoptera, they can be brood parisites, which kill the host larva but mostly feeding their #foodsupply. They can also be #parasitoids that feed on older larvae or pupae. I previously identified the species shown as #Hedychrum #rutilans, but it may be H. #gerstaeckeri, the #hosts would then be: #Cerceris rybyensis and C. ruficornis. #biodiversity
© #StefanFWirth #Berlin 2020, new edit & text 2025

@jencmars @futurebird According to an entomology paper, there are more parasitoid wasp species than all other insect and spider species combined, because for each there is a specialist parasitoid wasp plus it’s also targeted by a more generalist one. And some wasps are parasitoids of other wasps.

Haldane’s famous “fondness for beetles” ought to have been for wasps, but alas, their flight season is often short and the alates aren’t all that colorful, and their young lay hidden inside other insects for months – so 19th century entomologists collected beetles, butterflies and moths instead.
#entomology #parasitoids

Gyda Fenn-Moltu, Cleo Bertelsmeier and colleagues have published a paper in Ecological Applications on « Pathways for accidental biocontrol: the human-mediated dispersal of insect predators and parasitoids » learn more:

https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.3047

#biocontrol #publication #insects #parasitoids #ecology

@RSPB

Parasitoid wasps FTW!

"a small parasitoid wasp Microterys nietneri was found to be successful in controlling the scale insect" that was devastating the native trees (Phylica arborea) whose fruit the bird is specialised to eat in Nightingale island, Tristan da Cunha.

#wasplove #parasitoids

About the #ecological connections of a #semidry #meadow in the middle of Berlin that is largely isolated by streets and buildings. It is mainly characterized by its #plant #biodiversity, but #insect #diversity and species linked to one another as parasites or #parasitoids are also mentioned. What surprised me most was the presence of the Italian locust.
© #StefanFWirth #Berlin 2024

My #Blogarticle on X
https://x.com/wirthstef/status/1815980796706013199?t=3HSUe0P7Juov-Q7bKdgvuw&s=19

Photos
male of a #pantaloonbee,
#Italianlocust
© S. F. Wirth, 2024

@lionelb

Amblyteles armatorius is quite the majestic wasp, and often seen within the city of Cambridge, UK. My latest sighting: http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/222543086
#iNaturalist #wasplove #parasitoids #insects

Ichneumonid wasp ovipositing on a lavender flower – there must be an insect larva or caterpillar inside the flower bud.

http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/224254567

#iNaturalist #Hymenoptera #parasitoids #wasplove #entomology #insects

Ichneumonid wasp ovipositing inside an aphid.

Low-light conditions, a bit blurred. Was fascinating to see, as it iterated over multiple target apids and stabbed them all. Aphids didn't even attempt to run. Interestingly, only chose small aphids, even a very small one (seen in this photo at the lower left, near the posterior tip of the wing of the wasp).

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/221688390

#Hymenoptera #apids #wasplove #engomology #insects #parasitoids

"The insect world is full of species of parasitic wasps that spend their infancy eating other insects alive. And for reasons that scientists don’t fully understand, they have repeatedly adopted and tamed wild, disease-causing viruses and turned them into biological weapons. Half a dozen examples already are described, and new research hints at many more."

https://knowablemagazine.org/content/article/living-world/2024/parasitoid-wasps-domesticate-viruses

#Nature #Biology #Wasps #Parasitoids #Viruses #Evolution

@eLife That’s a marvellous amount of detail that’s been figured out for how these fruit fly pupal parasitoid wasps work. That includes their “specialized venom proteins that arrest host development”, so the fly pupa development stalls giving the wasp larva longer to feed and develop.

#Hymenoptera #insects #parasitoids #entomology

@johncarlosbaez

Given that pretty much all insect species, and beyond into spiders and more, are attacked by parasitoid wasps, and that for most hosts there are both host-specific and generic parasitoid wasp species, it’s been estimated that there are more parasitoid wasps than all other insect species combined. Their usually cryptic larval life stages and often brief adult stages may be behind the severe undercounting.

See:
"Quantifying the unquantifiable: why Hymenoptera, not Coleoptera, is the most speciose animal order", Forbes et al. 2018 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12898-018-0176-x

#wasplove #parasitoids #Hymenoptera

Spring in #Pembroke1347 #UK
A few observations among many, all within about 15 minutes of crouching down by a single flower bush, today.

Lispocephala brachialis fly, in brown-resdish and blue colours.
http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/201271797

Hairy-footed flower bee, Anthophora plumipes. A male, in gorgeous yellowish-orange fur.
http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/201272424

Ichneumonid parasitoid wasp, its antennae as long as its whole body.
http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/201272499

Oxytelus sp. rove beetle, its silky wings unfolded.
http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/201272638

#iNaturalist #Diptera #Hymenoptera #Coleoptera #nativebees #flies #bees #beetles #parasitoids

X-ray microscopy of fossil parasitoid wasps to study the evolution of echolocation for finding hosts:

"†Kryptovelona carstengroehni gen. et sp. nov. and †Orussus juttagroehnae sp. nov. are the first female members of the parasitoid wasp family Orussidae recorded from Baltic amber. We describe them, including relevant parts of the internal anatomy examined with synchrotron scanning. The fossils display a number of modifications in the antennae and foreleg correlated with the specialized host-detection mechanism, and in the ovipositor apparatus, as well as in the thorax and abdomen for accommodating the internalized ovipositor."

"By comparing the new Baltic amber taxa with †Cretorussus, it is possible to trace the progressive refinement of the echolocation mechanism through reductions in the number of antennomeres and foreleg tarsomeres."

Vilhelmsen et al. 2024
https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlae021

#wasplove #fossil #FossilFriday #Hymenoptera #parasitoids

Lissonota lineolaris Canon 7D EF 100 2.8 f/4 1/250 iso: 500 Srbsko, Czech Republic 5/31/2018 #Ichneumonidae #Wasps #parasitoids #Hymenoptera #banchidae #Insects #invertebrates #Macro #grasslands

"After eating the heart of the cockroach, the wasp larva started gnawing at its quarry’s trachea, the insect equivalent of lungs. This caused air to leak out of the cockroach’s respiratory system and into its body cavity, air that the wasp larva then eagerly slurped up.

In other words, the emerald jewel wasp both eats the cockroach’s heart out and takes its breath away."

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/29/science/emerald-jewel-wasp-cockroach.html

#Cockroaches #Wasps #Parasitoids #Nature #Biology

Cool article about a chalcid wasp in amber.

https://www.iflscience.com/130-million-year-old-jewel-wasps-captured-perfectly-in-amber-71309

#insects #insect #hymenoptera #wasps #parasitoids

@nev

Interesting. I have also seen a spider with a limbless insect larva on its thorax, and I figured maybe it's some kind of wasp ectoparasite. No ID for the larva though; to be fair it looks so generic it could be anything.

Araniella opisthographa with a maggot on its thorax https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/95394495

#arachtober #iNaturalist #Aranea #spides #Hymenoptera #parasitoids #wasps #wasplove #entomology #insects

@eLife

#wasplove clearly!

“Decoding the genetic and chemical basis of sexual attractiveness in parasitic wasps” by Sun et al. 2023 https://elifesciences.org/articles/86182

#Hymenoptera #wasps #entomology #insects #parasitoids

If I was to nominate an insect in a vampire lookalike contest, this would be one of my top entries:

Stilbula sp., a wasp that, by the looks of it, is a parasitoid http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/178149023

(The Ant Wiki says Stilbula wasps are parasitoids of ants: https://antwiki.org/wiki/Stilbula )

#iNaturalist #Hymenoptera #wasplove #wasps #entomology #insects #parasitoids #ants

Arthropod Photo of the Week: July 19, 2023
Tobacco hornworm with parasitic wasp pupae
Manduca sexta / Cotesia congregate
Lepidoptera: Sphingidae / Hymenoptera: Braconidae
By Jay Hirsh, Virginia, USA (https://bio.as.virginia.edu/people/jh6u)
#arthropodPOTW
#entomology #insects #parasitoids #photography

Ichneumonid wasp ovipositing inside an aphid.

Low-light conditions, a bit blurred. Was fascinating to see, as it iterated over multiple target apids and stabbed them all. Aphids didn't even attempt to run. Interestingly, only chose small aphids, even a very small one (seen in this photo at the lower left, near the posterior tip of the wing of the wasp).

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/221688390

#Hymenoptera #apids #wasplove #engomology #insects #parasitoids

Ichneumonid wasp ovipositing inside an aphid.

Low-light conditions, a bit blurred. Was fascinating to see, as it iterated over multiple target apids and stabbed them all. Aphids didn't even attempt to run. Interestingly, only chose small aphids, even a very small one (seen in this photo at the lower left, near the posterior tip of the wing of the wasp).

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/221688390

#Hymenoptera #apids #wasplove #engomology #insects #parasitoids

Ichneumonid wasp ovipositing inside an aphid.

Low-light conditions, a bit blurred. Was fascinating to see, as it iterated over multiple target apids and stabbed them all. Aphids didn't even attempt to run. Interestingly, only chose small aphids, even a very small one (seen in this photo at the lower left, near the posterior tip of the wing of the wasp).

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/221688390

#Hymenoptera #apids #wasplove #engomology #insects #parasitoids

Ichneumonid wasp ovipositing inside an aphid.

Low-light conditions, a bit blurred. Was fascinating to see, as it iterated over multiple target apids and stabbed them all. Aphids didn't even attempt to run. Interestingly, only chose small aphids, even a very small one (seen in this photo at the lower left, near the posterior tip of the wing of the wasp).

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/221688390

#Hymenoptera #apids #wasplove #engomology #insects #parasitoids