Pteromalus cassotis

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Pteromalus cassotis
Monarch chrysalis - Danaus plexippus and Pteromalid Wasp, Meadowood Farm SRMA, Mason Neck, Virginia - 29789548882.jpg
P.cassotis on a monarch butterfly chrysalis
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Pteromalidae
Genus: Pteromalus
Species:
P. cassotis
Binomial name
Pteromalus cassotis
Walker, 1847 [1]
Synonyms
  • Pteromalus archippiHoward, 1889

Pteromalus cassotis is a species of parasitic wasp in the family Pteromalidae that parasitizes the chrysalides of monarch butterflies. They are gregarious parasitoids, meaning a single female lays many eggs in a single host. Research into this species has documented that up to 425 adult wasps can emerge from a single chrysalis. The wasps have a heavy female bias, averaging 90% female. [2] [3] [4] Maximum entropy models suggest that the natural habitat of this species encompasses the continental United States, southern Canada and parts of Mexico; areas inhabited by the caterpillars of monarch butterflies, which are the larvae's hosts. [5]

Related Research Articles

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Lepidoptera or lepidopterans is an order of winged insects that includes butterflies and moths. About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera have been described, representing 10% of the total described species of living organisms, making it the second largest insect order with 126 families and 46 superfamilies, and one of the most widespread and widely recognizable insect orders in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Danainae</span> Subfamily of butterfly family Nymphalidae

Danainae is a subfamily of the family Nymphalidae, the brush-footed butterflies. It includes the Daniadae, or milkweed butterflies, who lay their eggs on various milkweeds on which their larvae (caterpillars) feed, as well as the clearwing butterflies (Ithomiini), and the tellervini.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monarch butterfly</span> Milkweed butterfly in the family Nymphalidae

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tachinidae</span> Family of insects

The Tachinidae are a large and variable family of true flies within the insect order Diptera, with more than 8,200 known species and many more to be discovered. Over 1,300 species have been described in North America alone. Insects in this family commonly are called tachinid flies or simply tachinids. As far as is known, they all are protelean parasitoids, or occasionally parasites, of arthropods, usually other insects. The family is known from many habitats in all zoogeographical regions and is especially diverse in South America.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Braconidae</span> Family of wasps

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.

<i>Danaus chrysippus</i> Species of butterfly

Danaus chrysippus, also known as the plain tiger, African queen, or African monarch, is a medium-sized butterfly widespread in Asia, Australia and Africa. It belongs to the Danainae subfamily of the brush-footed butterfly family Nymphalidae. Danainae primarily consume plants in the genus Asclepias, more commonly called milkweed. Milkweed contains toxic compounds, cardenolides, which are often consumed and stored by many butterflies. Because of their emetic properties, the plain tiger is unpalatable to most predators. As a result, its colouration is widely mimicked by other species of butterflies. The plain tiger inhabits a wide variety of habitats, although it is less likely to thrive in jungle-like conditions and is most often found in drier, wide-open areas.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephanidae</span> Family of wasps

The Stephanidae, sometimes called crown wasps, are a family of parasitoid wasps. They are the only living members of the superfamily Stephanoidea. Stephanidae has at least 345 living species in 11 genera. The family is considered cosmopolitan in distribution, with the highest species concentrations in subtropical and moderate climate zones. Stephanidae also contain four extinct genera described from both compression fossils and inclusions in amber.

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References

  1. "Pteromalus cassotis Walker, 1847". Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Retrieved February 20, 2019.
  2. Stenoien, C., McCoshum, S., Caldwell, W., De Anda, A., & Oberhauser, K. S. (2015). "New Reports that Monarch Butterflies (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae, Danaus plexippus Linnaeus) are Hosts for a Pupal Parasitoid (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidae, Pteromalus cassotis Walker)". Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society. 88(1), 16-26. doi : 10.2317/JKES1402.22.1
  3. "Pteromalus cassotis maybe - Pteromalus cassotis". BugGuide. Retrieved 2019-02-22.
  4. Oberhauser, Karen; Anda, Alma De; Caldwell, Wendy; McCoshum, Shaun; Stenoien, Carl (January 2015). "New Reports that Monarch Butterflies (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae, Danaus plexippus Linnaeus) are Hosts for a Pupal Parasitoid (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidae, Pteromalus cassotis Walker)" . Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society. 88 (1): 16–26. doi:10.2317/JKES1402.22.1. ISSN   0022-8567. S2CID   52231552.
  5. McCoshum, S. M., Andreoli, S. L., Stenoien, C. M., Oberhauser, K. S., & Baum, K. A. (2016). "Species distribution models for natural enemies of monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) larvae and pupae: distribution patterns and implications for conservation". Journal of Insect Conservation. 20(2), 223-237. doi : 10.1007/s10841-016-9856-z