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Parasitoid Wasp

parasitoidal Apocrita

Photo by ZachWilliams2
Published on Project Noah
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33.2038, -86.8717

Field Notes

Description:

Saw a "green" wasp fly by me the other day, went to investigate and found out that it was a parasitic wasp that was catching a caterpillar to lay eggs in! Pretty neat, bad day for the caterpillar though.

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (2)

Here is a link with more information on Parasitic Aprocrita: http://bugguide.net/node/view/12325 Much different body type and much smaller in size.
Zach, this is a really neat find! What you have here is most likely a Potter Wasp. These wasps stun caterpillars (or whatever their species feeds their young) and then stuffs them in a chamber with an egg. The caterpillar provides food for the growing larva. Parasitoid wasps are very tiny and do not capture the caterpillars (though the end is the same for the caterpillar). Possibly Genus Eumenes: http://bugguide.net/node/view/6809/bgpage They prey mostly on larvae.
Photographed
PublishedAugust 8, 2014

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