I've
written about parasitic braconid wasps before, and you know, I probably will again - because they are fascinating. This one hatched recently from the mummified remains of what I think is a small noctuid moth larva that I found in our garden, possibly one of the
Xestia or
Noctua species.
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| Mummified remains of an unfortunate moth larva, showing the legs |
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| Mummified moth larva showing the wasp's exit hole at the rear. The material sticking the mummy to its substrate can be seen beneath the head. |
As you've gathered, this is an internal parasite (parasitoid) - in this case probably
Aleoides borealis or something taxonomically close to it (written as "
Aleiodes sp. near
borealis"). This kills the host before it is fully grown - it then changes the host behaviour to ensure it adopts a parasite-frindly position, after which the parasitoid makes a slit in the host on the underside near the head. Through this slit, it produces a sticky fluid which glues the host in place. However, I don't only have an empty husk to show you - I collected the mummy before emergence, and this is what appeared in my hatchery.
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| Aleiodes sp. near borealis |
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| Head (with ocelli) of Aleiodes sp. near borealis |
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| Abdominal pattern of Aleiodes sp. near borealis |
Parasitic Hymenoptera are notoriously tricky to identify, but I think this is a reasonable conclusion - as ever, I am happy to hear from anyone who has a better idea what it is!
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