Lymantria dispar, also known as the gypsy moth or the spongy moth, is an Eurasian species of moth in the family Erebidae. Lymantria dispar is subdivided into several subspecies, with subspecies such as L. d. dispar and L. d. japonica being clearly identifiable without ambiguity. Lymantria dispar has been introduced to several continents and is now found in Europe, Africa, Asia, North America and South America. The polyphagous larvae live on a variety of deciduous and coniferous trees and can cause severe damage in years of mass reproduction. Due to these features, Lymantria dispar is listed among the world's 100 worst invasive alien species.
In evolutionary ecology, a parasitoid is an organism that lives in close association with its host at the host's expense, eventually resulting in the death of the host. Parasitoidism is one of six major evolutionary strategies within parasitism, distinguished by the fatal prognosis for the host, which makes the strategy close to predation.
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.
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.
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.
The emerald cockroach wasp or jewel wasp is a solitary wasp of the family Ampulicidae. It is known for its unusual reproductive behavior, which involves stinging a cockroach and using it as a host for its larvae. It thus belongs to the entomophagous parasites.
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. More rarely, parasitoid wasps may use plant seeds as hosts, such as Torymus druparum.
Acronicta rumicis, the knot grass moth, is a species of moth which is part of the genus Acronicta and family Noctuidae. It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. It is found in the Palearctic region. A. rumicis lives and feeds on plants located in wide-open areas. At its larval stage, as a caterpillar, it causes such a large impact as a crop pest that it has received much attention and research. A. rumicis feeds on maize, strawberries and other herbaceous plants.
A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. The wasps do not constitute a clade, a complete natural group with a single ancestor, as bees and ants are deeply nested within the wasps, having evolved from wasp ancestors. Wasps that are members of the clade Aculeata can sting their prey.
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.
The Cheloninae are a cosmopolitan subfamily of braconid parasitoid wasps.
Thyrinteina is a genus of moths in the family Geometridae first described by Heinrich Benno Möschler in 1890. Thyrinteina leucocerae caterpillars are parasitized by Glyptapanteles parasitic wasps which inject their eggs into the caterpillar. When wasp larvae are fully grown they exit the caterpillar and pupate nearby. The caterpillar then covers them in silk and will defend the pupating wasps with violent head swings.
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.
Compsilura concinnata is a parasitoid native to Europe that was introduced to North America in 1906 to control the population of an exotic forest, univoltine, spongy moth named Lymantria dispar. It is an endoparasitoid of larvae and lives with its host for most of its life. Eventually the parasitoid ends up killing the host and occasionally eating it. It attacks over 200 host species, mainly insects from the Orders: Coleoptera, Lepidoptera and Hymenoptera. Since this parasite has the ability to attack many different types of hosts, the organism has spilled over from the intended forest systems into other areas, like agricultural fields, affecting cabbage pests including the cabbage looper (Trichoplusia); the cabbage worm ; and even other invasive species such as the brown-tail moth. However, it also attacks native, non-pest insects such as the Cecropia moth and American moon moth.
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.
Lymantria dispar dispar or LDD moth, commonly known as the gypsy moth, European gypsy moth, North American gypsy moth, or spongy moth, is a species of moth in the family Erebidae that is of Eurasian origin. It has a range that extends over Europe, Africa, and North America.
Lymantria dispar multicapsid nuclear polyhedrosis virus or LdMNPV is a viral infection in spongy moths that causes infected larvae to die and disintegrate. Infected larvae climb to the top of a tree and die. The larvae then melt or disintegrate, falling onto the foliage below, where they infect more larvae.
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.
Meteorinae is a subfamily of braconid parasitoid wasps; however, since 2015, most scientists have treated this clade as the Tribe Meteorini in Euphorinae. Several species have been used in biological control programs. The name for this group comes from the pupal stage, which, in species attacking Lepidopteran hosts, hangs suspended from a long thread of silk.
Netelia producta is a species of ichneumonid wasp in the subfamily Tryphoninae found in Australia.
