| Cotesia glomerata | |
|---|---|
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| Cotesia glomerata | |
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| Cotesia glomerata on a pupal cocoon. | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Braconidae |
| Genus: | Cotesia |
| Species: | C. glomerata |
| Binomial name | |
| Cotesia glomerata | |
| Synonyms | |
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Cotesia glomerata, the white butterfly parasite, is a small parasitoid wasp belonging to family Braconidae. It was described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 publication 10th edition of Systema Naturae.
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. It can parasitize a wide range of Pieris butterfly species as host, but the large white ( Pieris brassicae ) and small white ( Pieris rapae ) are the main hosts. The adults feed on nectar. [2]
After hatching from the pupae, females mate almost immediately and begin laying eggs. [3] The eggs are laid in the larvae of butterflies known as caterpillars, where the C. glomerata larvae develop; multiple eggs numbering between 16–52 are deposited in each caterpillar. [4] After 15 to 20 days the larvae emerge, usually killing the parasitised caterpillar. These newly emerged larvae spin cocoons in a cluster on or nearby the host caterpillar; after 7 to 10 days the imago adult wasps hatch from these cocoons. Males typically emerge before females and disperse from the area. [5] Overall, it takes between 22 and 30 days for an egg to develop to full adulthood. [3]
Cotesia glomerata is in turn parasitized by the hyperparasite wasps Lysibia nana and Gelis agilis . [6]
This species is present in most of Europe, in the Afrotropical realm, the Australasian realm, the Nearctic realm, and the Neotropical realm. [7]
The superfamily Ichneumonoidea contains one extinct and three extant families, including the two largest families within Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae and Braconidae. The group is thought to contain as many as 100,000 species, many of which have not yet been described. Like other parasitoid wasps, they were long placed in the "Parasitica", variously considered as an infraorder or an unranked clade, now known to be paraphyletic.
Pieris rapae is a small- to medium-sized butterfly species of the whites-and-yellows family Pieridae. It is known in Europe as the small white, in North America as the cabbage white or cabbage butterfly, on several continents as the small cabbage white, and in New Zealand as the white butterfly. The butterfly is recognizable by its white color with small black dots on its wings, and it can be distinguished from P. brassicae by its larger size and the black band at the tip of its forewings.
A hyperparasite, also known as a metaparasite, is a parasite whose host, often an insect, is also a parasite, often specifically a parasitoid. Hyperparasites are found mainly among the wasp-waisted Apocrita within the Hymenoptera, and in two other insect orders, the Diptera and Coleoptera (beetles). Seventeen families in Hymenoptera and a few species of Diptera and Coleoptera are hyperparasitic. Hyperparasitism developed from primary parasitism, which evolved in the Jurassic period in the Hymenoptera. Hyperparasitism intrigues entomologists because of its multidisciplinary relationship to evolution, ecology, behavior, biological control, taxonomy, and mathematical models.
Trichogramma is a genus of minute polyphagous wasps that are endoparasitoids of insect eggs. Trichogramma is one of around 80 genera from the family Trichogrammatidae, with over 200 species worldwide.
The Braconidae are a family of parasitoid wasps. After the closely related Ichneumonidae, braconids make up the second-largest family in the order Hymenoptera, with about 17,000 recognized species and many thousands more undescribed. One analysis estimated a total between 30,000 and 50,000, and another provided a narrower estimate between 42,000 and 43,000 species.
Parasitoid wasps are a large group of hymenopteran superfamilies, with all but the wood wasps (Orussoidea) 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. Different species specialise in hosts from different insect orders, most often Lepidoptera, though some select beetles, flies, or bugs; the spider wasps (Pompilidae) exclusively attack spiders.
The Madeiran large white is a subspecies of the large white butterfly, endemic to Madeira. It was described by the English entomologist, Arthur Gardiner Butler in 1886.
Cotesia congregata is a parasitoid wasp of the genus Cotesia. The genus is particularly noted for its use of polydnaviruses. Parasitoids are distinct from true parasites in that a parasitoid will ultimately kill its host or otherwise sterilize it.
Picromerus bidens, the spiny shieldbug or spiked shieldbug, is a carnivorous species of shield bug in the family Pentatomidae.
Glyptapanteles is a genus of endoparasitoid wasps found in all continents, except Antarctica. The larvae of Glyptapanteles species are able to manipulate their hosts into serving as bodyguards.
Microgastrinae is a subfamily of braconid wasps, encompassing almost 3,000 described species, with an estimated 30,000–50,000 total species. This makes it one of the richest subfamilies with the most species of parasitoid wasps.
Dinocampus coccinellae is a braconid wasp parasite of coccinellid beetles, including the spotted lady beetle, Coleomegilla maculata. D. coccinellae has been described as turning its ladybird host into a temporary "zombie" guarding the wasp cocoon. About 25% of Coleomegilla maculata recover after the cocoon they are guarding matures, although the proportion of other ladybird species which recover is much lower.
Cotesia is a genus of braconid wasps first described by Peter Cameron in 1891. Some species parasitize caterpillars of species considered pests, and are used as biocontrol agents. Cotesia congregata parasitizes the tomato and the tobacco hornworms. C. glomerata and C. rubecula feed on the cabbage white and other white butterfly caterpillars. C. gonopterygis and C. risilis are host-specific and parasitize the common brimstone.
Lysibia nana is a hyperparasitoid wasp that attacks the parasitoid wasp Cotesia glomerata.
Bracovirus is a genus of viruses, in the family Polydnaviridae. Bracoviruses are an ancient symbiotic virus contained in parasitic braconid wasps that evolved off of the nudivirus about 190 million years ago and has been evolving at least 100 million years. It is one of two genera belonging to the Polydnaviridae family, Ichnovirus being the other genus. There are 32 species in this genus.
Cotesia rubecula is a parasitoid wasp from the large wasp family Braconidae.
Aphidius nigripes is a species of parasitoid wasp in the subfamily Aphidiinae of the family Braconidae. It is the most common parasitoid of the potato aphid Macrosiphum euphorbiae in eastern North America. Many other species of aphids may also serve as hosts.
Dahlbominus fuscipennis, the sawfly parasitic wasp, is a species of chalcid wasp from the family Eulophidae which parasitizes the European pine sawfly Neodiprion sertifer, among other hosts. It is the only species in the genus Dahlbominus.
Pimpla rufipes, the black slip wasp, is a species of wasp belonging to the family Ichneumonidae. It is distributed across Europe, Asia, and northern Africa.
Nancy Elizabeth Beckage was an American entomologist known for her work on host–parasitoid interactions. She held professorships in entomology and in cell biology and neuroscience at the University of California, Riverside.