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Photo#1720661
Arogalea cristifasciella Parasitoid

Arogalea cristifasciella Parasitoid
Karnack, Harrison County, Texas, USA
August 9, 2019
Size: 6mm
An Arogalea cristifasciella larva feeding on Nuttall's Oak (Quercus texana) with two parasitoids. Not sure sure if each translucent tube is the complete parasitoid or a breathing apparatus. Size given refers to the Arogalea cristifasciella larva. Thoughts would be appreciated.

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Arogalea cristifasciella Parasitoid Arogalea cristifasciella Parasitoid

Moved

Parasitoids…
This appears to be an immature larva of Arogalea cristifasciella as you suggest, based on Robert Marquis' description of Lepidopteran larvae of oaks written in 2019. The current literature suggests that an ichneumon wasp in the subfamily Lycorininae parasitizes this particular host. That does not exclude, of course, the possibility of other wasps targeting this host. Due to the scarcity of images of most parasitoid wasp larvae, it might be helpful in the future, when you encounter these larvae, to collect them for rearing, so we might catch an adult emerging, which would be much easier to identify.

See host reference here.

Moved

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