Friend and Foe!
There are many species of parasitoid wasps, some of which are FRIENDS and some of which are FOES. Many are so tiny you may not even notice them!
ONE OF OUR FRIENDS –
A female wasp will lay her eggs in an aphid nymph. The wasp larva consumes the insides of the aphid as it matures, leaving a “mummy.”
Aphidius wasps can smell the footprint of lady beetles and will not lay their eggs on aphids (very wisely) if they are close by! You can encourage these wasps to your garden with nectar and pollen rich plants such as sweet alyssum, thyme and yarrow. And … by providing food for their larvae … leave those aphids alone!
FOE – MONODONTOMERUS (a genus of the Chalcid wasp)
Lays its eggs in the larvae of mason bee nests, which is why it is very important to bring your mason bee boxes into your home at the beginning of June or bag them in a mesh bag. Do this very carefully as you do not want to knock the bee larvae off their pollen loaf!
Parasitized Cocoon
Images: Braconid (Aphidiinae) Wasp — Alan D Mansion, Wiki Commons
All other images by Elaine Sedgman
Sources:
Walliser, J., Good Bug, Bad Bug, 2011
@aBeeNamedBob
Pinkington, G. Monodontomerus Wasp's Life Cycle
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bwhBipHktI
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