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Some wasps are even parasitoids of parasitoids; the eggs of Euceros are laid beside lepidopteran larvae and the wasp larvae feed temporarily on their haemolymph, but if a parasitoid emerges from the host, the hyperparasites continue their life cycle inside the parasitoid. [19] Parasitoids maintain their extreme diversity through narrow specialism.
In all, perhaps 700,000 or so parasitoid wasp species are estimated to exist, but it’s probable that the number is far higher. Even the parasitoids are not immune to victimization.
Approximately 300 species of Polistes paper wasps have been identified worldwide. The most common paper wasp in Europe is Polistes dominula. [2] The Old World tribe Ropalidiini contains another 300 species, and the Neotropical tribes Epiponini and Mischocyttarini each contain over 250 more, so the total number of true paper wasps worldwide is about 1100 species, almost half of which can be ...
Some caterpillars even bite the female wasps that approach them. Some insects secrete poisonous compounds that kill or drive away the parasitoid. Ants that are in a symbiotic relationship with caterpillars, aphids or scale insects may protect them from attack by wasps. [18] [19] Parasitoid wasps are vulnerable to hyperparasitoid wasps.
Are all wasps aggressive? Are their stings dangerous? Know these facts before your next encounter.
They tend to be less conspicuous than the social (wasps) do,” Kimsey said, adding that they are “good to have around” to eat other bugs such as caterpillars. There are roughly 300 species of ...
In Polistes exclamans, equal sex ratio is obtained when only 46.3% of investment is devoted to females as female wasps are 1.16 times larger than male wasps. [16] In a study done by Strassmann, it was found that sexual investment is female biased, especially during years of high predation and when nests are generally less successful. [ 16 ]
Charles Darwin considered the evolution of eusociality a major problem for his theory of natural selection.In The Origin of Species, he described the existence of sterile worker castes in the social insects as "the one special difficulty, which at first appeared to me insuperable and actually fatal to my whole theory".