Plant Protection
How does a hyperparasitic wasp find its prey?
Hyperparasitic wasps do not parasitize caterpillars directly, but on the larva of a parasitic wasp inside the caterpillar. Mitchel Bourne and colleagues found that the primary parasitic wasp causes changes in caterpillar odours.
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This allows hyperparasitoids to smell which caterpillars contain parasitic wasp larvae AND exactly where they are in the caterpillar, allowing them to parasitize the larvae very precisely. Fascinating! Hans Smid beautifully captured and explained this process in the video below:
Baryscapus galactopus hyperparasitic wasp from Hans Smid on Vimeo.
