Cotesia glomerata explained

Cotesia glomerata, the white butterfly parasite, is a small parasitoid wasp belonging to family Braconidae. It was described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 publication 10th edition of Systema Naturae.

Description

The adults of Cotesia glomerata can reach a length of 3-. This small braconid wasp is black, with two pairs of wings. It can parasitize a wide range of Pieris butterfly species as host, but the large white (Pieris brassicae) and small white (Pieris rapae) are the main hosts. The adults feed on nectar. ^[1]

Life cycle

After hatching from the pupae, females mate almost immediately and begin laying eggs.^[2] The eggs are laid in the larvae of butterflies known as caterpillars, where the C. glomerata larvae develop; multiple eggs numbering between 16–52 are deposited in each caterpillar.^[3] After 15 to 20 days the larvae emerge, usually killing the parasitised caterpillar. These newly emerged larvae spin cocoons in a cluster on or nearby the host caterpillar; after 7 to 10 days the imago adult wasps hatch from these cocoons. Males typically emerge before females and disperse from the area.^[4] Overall, it takes between 22 and 30 days for an egg to develop to full adulthood.

Cotesia glomerata is in turn parasitized by the hyperparasite wasps Lysibia nana and Gelis agilis.^[5]

Distribution

This species is present in most of Europe, in the Afrotropical realm, the Australasian realm, the Nearctic realm, and the Neotropical realm.^[6]

Further reading

• 10.1111/j.1570-7458.1992.tb00664.x . Interactions among three trophic levels: The influence of host plant on performance of Pieris brassicae and its parasitoid, Cotesia glomerata . 1992 . Karowe . D. N. . Schoonhoven . L. M. . Louis Schoonhoven . Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata . 62 . 3 . 241–51. 84564439 .
• 10.1111/j.1570-7458.1995.tb01944.x . Host-age discrimination during host location by Cotesia glomerata, a larval parasitoid of Pieris brassicae . 1995 . Mattiacci . Letizia . Dicke . Marcel . Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata . 76 . 37–48. 84550213 .
• 10.1016/S0022-1910(01)00088-9 . A comparison of nectar- and honeydew sugars with respect to their utilization by the hymenopteran parasitoid Cotesia glomerata . 2001 . Wäckers . F.L. . Journal of Insect Physiology . 47 . 9 . 1077–1084 . 11472770.
• 10.1046/j.1439-0418.1999.00334.x . Parasitism of the herbivore Pieris brassicae L. (Lep., Pieridae) by Cotesia glomerata L. (Hym., Braconidae) does not benefit the host plant by reduction of herbivory . 1999 . Coleman . R. A. . Barker . A. M. . Fenner . M. . Journal of Applied Entomology . 123 . 3 . 171–7. free .
• 10.1046/j.1365-2311.2003.00535.x . Superparasitism in Cotesia glomerata: Response of hosts and consequences for parasitoids . 2003 . Gu . Hainan . Wang . Qun . Dorn . Silvia . Ecological Entomology . 28 . 4 . 422–31. 83995053 .

External links

• Book: Wasps Emerge From Caterpillar . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMG-LWyNcAs . Parasitic Wasps: Alien on Earth . https://web.archive.org/web/20090513042621/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/05/photogalleries/in-the-womb-animal-pictures/photo3.html . dead . May 13, 2009 . In the Womb: Extreme Animals . National Geographic . May 16, 2009.
• An 9 minute video of the wasps behaviour.
• Entomology

Notes and References

1. Laing . J.E. . Levin . D.B. . 1982 . A review of the biology and a bibliography of Apanteles glomeratus (L.) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) . Biocontrol News and Information . 3 . 1 . 7–23 . 0143-1404.
2. Cornell University College of Agricultural and Life Sciences Cotesia (=Apanteles) glomerata (Hymenoptera: Braconidae)
3. Susan Mahr, University of Wisconsin Cotesia glomerata, Parasite of Imported Cabbageworm
4. Gu . Hainan . Dorn . Silvia . Mating system and sex allocation in the gregarious parasitoid Cotesia glomerata . Animal Behaviour . August 2003 . 66 . 2 . 259–264 . 10.1006/anbe.2003.2185. 54336979 .
5. Harvey. Jeffrey A.. 2008-03-01. Comparing and contrasting development and reproductive strategies in the pupal hyperparasitoids Lysibia nana and Gelis agilis (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae). Evolutionary Ecology. en. 22. 2. 153–166. 10.1007/s10682-007-9164-x. 0269-7653. free. 20.500.11755/5ca84a4e-f3c1-4a87-a0c4-49825b38143b. free.
6. Web site: Cotesia glomerata (Linnaeus, 1758) . Fauna Europaea . 8 July 2020.