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The wasps, bees, and ants together make up the suborder (and clade) Apocrita, characterized by a constriction between the first and second abdominal segments called a wasp-waist , also involving the fusion of the first abdominal segment to the thorax. Also, the larvae of all Apocrita lack legs, prolegs, or ocelli.
The adult female wasp seeks out a nest of these ants; it seems to be able to tell by smell whether there are larvae of the butterfly present in the nest and if there are, it attempts to enter. The ants attack the intruder, but the wasp produces a pheromone that causes the ants to become confused and attack each other. This gives the wasp the ...
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 arthropods , sooner or later causing the death of these hosts .
Many wasp lineages, including those in the families Vespidae, Crabronidae, Sphecidae, and Pompilidae, attack and sting prey items that they use as food for their larvae; while Vespidae usually macerate their prey and feed the resulting bits directly to their brood, most predatory wasps paralyze their prey and lay eggs directly upon the bodies ...
Many butterflies are attacked by parasites or parasitoids, including wasps, protozoans, flies, and other invertebrates, or are preyed upon by other organisms. Some species are pests because in their larval stages they can damage domestic crops or trees; other species are agents of pollination of some plants.
Cocoons of Cotesia species with the remains of a dead parasitized caterpillar Larvae of Cotesia glomerata emerging from a caterpillar of a Pieris brassicae butterfly. The adults of Cotesia glomerata can reach a length of 3–7 millimetres (0.12–0.28 in). This small braconid wasp is black, with two pairs of wings.
On detecting a P. alcon larva the wasp enters the nest and sprays a pheromone that causes the ants to attack each other. In the resulting confusion the wasp locates the butterfly larva and injects it with its eggs. On pupation, the wasp eggs hatch and consume the chrysalis from the inside. [19]
Fairyflies are very tiny insects, like most chalcidoid wasps, mostly ranging from 0.5 to 1.0 mm (0.020 to 0.039 in) long. They include the world's smallest known insect , with a body length of only 0.139 mm (0.0055 in), and the smallest known flying insect , only 0.15 mm (0.0059 in) long.