What is a parasitoid?
Q: What is a parasitoid?
A: A parasitoid is a type of parasite whose larvae develop inside another organism's body, usually resulting in the death of the host.
Q: How many superfamilies of parasitic wasps are there?
A: There are twelve superfamilies of parasitic wasps which are entirely or mainly parasitoid.
Q: What is the largest family of parasitic wasps?
A: The largest family are the Ichneumons, with over 80,000 species.
Q: How do female parasitoids place their eggs on or in hosts?
A: Female parasitoids place their eggs on or in the body of a host using their ovipositor.
Q: How do traditional parasites spread to other hosts compared to Hymenopteran parasitoids?
A: Traditional parasites use vectors as the way to get to other hosts, while Hymenopteran parasitoids often have unique life cycles that involve different methods for getting to new hosts.
Q: How many species of Hymenoptera exist in Britain? A: In Britain there are about 6500 species of Hymenoptera - more than any other insect order - and just one parasitoid superfamily, the Ichneumonoidea, has nearly half of them.
Q: What is an example of a unique life cycle for Hymenopteran Parasitoids? A: An example would be Trigonalidae where female wasps deposit eggs into small pockets they cut into leaves with their ovipositor. When swallowed by caterpillars these eggs hatch and burrow through its gut wall and into its body cavity before searching for other parasitoid larvae which it will feed on. Some trigonalids need their host to fall prey to a social wasp so that it can be butchered and fed back to its young who serve as host for the trigonalid's eggs.
