@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
#Parasitoids
On my way to AAB Advances in Integrated Pest and Pathogen Management meeting - looking forward to a couple of days hearing about what's happening in applied IPPM research. https://www.aab.org.uk/event/advances-in-integrated-pest-and-pathogen-management/
I'll be talking about aphids on soft fruit, and how to optimise different aspects of biocontrol to improve the approach overall.
#IPM #IntegratedPestManagement #Biocontrol #Parasitoids #Aphids #AppliedEntomology
#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.
In further Wasp Friend news, I just rescued *another* ichneumon wasp from the window. (This one obligingly hopped directly on to my hand before flying out the newly opened section...)
#wasps #insects #parasitoids #macrophotography
#wasps #insects #parasitoids #macrophotography
Another wasp friend!
Found inside a window - and, during a drawn-out rescue attempt with a bit of paper, it finally hopped on to my finger and let me take some more photos, before flying out the now-open window...
(Possibly the same ichneumon species as the last one, only female this time judging by the long ovipostor...)
#wasps #insects #macrophotography #Derbyshire #parasitoids
Found inside a window - and, during a drawn-out rescue attempt with a bit of paper, it finally hopped on to my finger and let me take some more photos, before flying out the now-open window...
(Possibly the same ichneumon species as the last one, only female this time judging by the long ovipostor...)
#wasps #insects #macrophotography #Derbyshire #parasitoids
My recent spree of #macrophotography continues - and I appear to have become a friend of the #wasps. One morning - a small, slender, black and orange wasp (possibly an Ichneumon of some kind?) was sat in the window of the front door - after taking photos, I duly released it into the outdoors. And later that day - a tiny, glittering Cuckoo wasp purposefully scampering over old stonework!
#Derbyshire, May 2025.
#insects #macro #naturePhotography #parasitoids
#Derbyshire, May 2025.
#insects #macro #naturePhotography #parasitoids
Séminaire de Maximilien ADAM
▶️Interactions among hosts, #microorganisms and #parasitoids
📅Vendredi 23 mai à 12h
@inrae_france @CBGPMontpellier@ecoevo.social @cbgpmontpellier@bird.makeup #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
@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:
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.
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
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 attraction, retention, and persistence of natural enemies within cropping systems are key factors for the success and effectiveness of biological control of #herbivores. The resistance against herbivores improves the biological control by natural enemies like #carnivores and #parasitoids - Review in Biological Control by Victoria M. Pocius and Mônica F. Kersch-Becker - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocontrol.2024.105515
"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
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