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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies (Hymenoptera) » "Parasitica" - Parasitoid Wasps » Braconid and Ichneumonid Wasps (Ichneumonoidea) » Braconid Wasps (Braconidae) » Microgastrinae » Cotesia

Genus Cotesia

Parasites on IO Caterpillar - Cotesia hemileucae

TX - Sphinx Caterpillar - Cotesia congregata

Another Saddleback with parasitic wasp eggs - Cotesia empretiae

Cotesia congregata parasitizing Eumorpha pandorus caterpillar - Cotesia congregata

Cotesia congregata? - Cotesia congregata

Braconidae; Microgastrinae; Cotesia? - Cotesia - male

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)

Class Insecta (Insects)

Order Hymenoptera (Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies)

No Taxon ("Parasitica" - Parasitoid Wasps)

Superfamily Ichneumonoidea (Braconid and Ichneumonid Wasps)

Family Braconidae (Braconid Wasps)

Subfamily Microgastrinae

Genus Cotesia

Synonyms and other taxonomic changes

Microgaster in part

Apanteles in part

Explanation of Names

Cotesia Cameron, 1891

Numbers

77 spp. in our area(1)

Identification

Propodeum strongly wrinkled; ovipositor hardly extending beyond apex of abdomen; anterior of T2 broader than posterior of petiole; T2 frequently subquadrate; second submarginal cell of forewing not closed.(2)

Wing venation

Food

Hosts: Armyworm, bollworm, cabbage looper, cabbageworm, celery looper, corn earworm, cutworm, diamondback moth, spongy moth, hornworm, stem borer, tobacco budworm, webworm.

Life Cycle

Click on an image to view the life cycle:

Larvae that build their cocoons in late winter will overwinter as larvae and pupate in the spring of the following year (Fulton BB. 1940. The hornworm parasite, Apanteles congregatus (Say) and the hyperparasite, Hypopteromalus tabacum (Fitch). Annals of the Entomological Society of America 33: 231-244.)

Adult female Cotesia marginiventris must locate caterpillars to parasitize before the end of the host's second instar.

Remarks

Two species have been introduced to combat the cabbageworm (Pieris rapae), C. glomerata and C. rubecula, (Florida Entomologist.

Internet References

U. of Kentucky

OISAT.org

University of Florida. Cotesia marginiventris.

Preliminary evolutionary relationships of the genus Cotesia

NCSU.

Preliminary evolutionary relationships within the genus Cotesia. Systematic Entomology. PDF document

Works Cited

1.	Nomina Insecta Nearctica Poole, Robert W. Nearctica.com, Inc.

2.	Manual of the New World Genera of the Family Braconidae (Hymenoptera) Wharton, R.A., P.M. Marsh, M.J. Sharkey (Eds). 1997. International Society of Hymenopterists.

Contributed by Beatriz Moisset on 21 July, 2007 - 4:46pm
Additional contributions by Wisconsin Oecanthinancy, PaleoJon, Arturo Santos
Last updated 5 October, 2024 - 8:26pm

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