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Organic Gardening

So cool! Parasitic wasps

16 years ago

I'm so excited! I just found my first real evidence of parasitic wasps in my garden. This morning, I saw a large group of little black wasps flying around my rose bushes. Then tonight, I found this on my kale:

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From the web, it appears to be the cocoons of the parasitic wasp Apanteles glomeratus on one of my annoying cabbage worms. I've been hand picking and squishing (hope I didn't squish too many baby wasps) or feeding to the birds. I was particularly pleased to find it on my kale. I don't mind sharing broccoli leaves, but I want every inch of the kale.

I'm so pleased with my garden right now. It's my first year in Pennsylvania and in a brand new garden, so I wasn't sure what to expect. The garden is absolutely crawling and buzzing with good or neutral bugs. I have tons of long-legged flies, lady bug larvae, hoverflies and spiders. My firebush (which I have a love/hate relationship with) was literally covered with black aphids, but I saw mating lady bugs so I left it. A short time later the bush was crawling with lady bug larvae and ALL the aphids were gone. I stole a bunch of larvae and moved them to my garden.

Any way, I was having a not so good day, then I found the wasp cocoons. It was one of three really cool things I saw today and it brightened my mood. Hope all of you are knee deep in beneficial bugs.

Bellatrix

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Comments (3)

pablo_nh
16 years ago
Oh cool! I've seen parasitic wasp pics on tomato horn worms (evil...evil horn worms), and always wanted to see them in my yard. They seem to look more like sacs hanging from the worm. Was this one stuck to that mass of yellowy eggs?.

I saw ladybugs on my plum trees with lots of aphids. Go ahead aphids- have your fun now you little SOB's. Your day is quickly approaching ;)
rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
16 years ago
Congratulations, bella! Being observant in the garden is the best way to catch all of the good things happening! Plus, you're a terrific example of how important it is to be informed about the likely inhabitants of a garden setting.
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OMG!!! new to me parasite!!!!!!!
Q
Comments (3)
Wasps with normal narrow waists are valuable predators. If they hover extensively and dip into the foliage, they are hunting plant pests. Wasps with thick waists are pests, sawflies laying eggs on the plants, but you rarely see them in the garden. Egg-laying takes a while, so they would tend to perch on the foliage, stems, or buds.
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Is this a parasitic fly/wasp?
Q
Comments (1)
Looks like an Aphid or Lacewing, so no. S.B.
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Parasitic wasp
Q
Comments (3)
The parasitic wasps are teensy. If yours was the normal size for a wasp, it was one of the wasp species who prey on caterpillars. Predatory, rather than parasitic. The Potters' Wasp also goes after caterpillars, paralyzes them, and stuffs one into the nest chamber with an egg. The caterpillar will be the larval food until the baby wasp has grown and is ready to break out of the little clay 'pot'. We like to see these wasps at work in our veggie gardens, landscaping, and forests but NOT in our herb or butterfly gardens, dang it! There really isn't anything you can do, other than to protect the caterpillars or the plants in some way. Parasitic AND predatory wasps are one of the main reasons why some people raise their caterpillars themselves.
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ParasitizedTomato Hornworms
Q
Comments (2)
Let them alone...once they are parasitized they stop feeding...but they still appear to be alive. keep an eye on them, when the wasp's emerge from the cocoons it is is a thing of beauty.
...See More
paulns
16 years ago
Keep a sharp eye for these too - aphids parasitized by wasps. Quite a thrill to find in the garden.

Here is a link that might be useful: aphid mummies

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