Braconid and Ichneumonoid Wasps

• Braconid wasps are mostly internal parasitoids, but many emerge to pupate in silken cocoons attached to the outside of their hosts, or separate but close-by.

• Perhaps the most widely recognized stage of any parasitoid wasp is the cluster of whitish/yellowish rice-like pupal cocoons of Cotesia spp. wasps (Braconids) found on tomato hornworms and cabbageworms.

Ichneumonoid wasps

• Ichneumonoid wasps typically range from about 1/10” to 1 1/2” long, although one Ichneumon species (Megarhyssa) can be nearly 3” long including its very long tail-like ovipositor.

• Ichneumons are slender, wasplike, with an abdomen longer than the head and thorax combined, and females frequently have an ovipositor (egg-laying organ) that is longer than their body.

• Ichneumons vary greatly in size and color, from uniformly yellowish to black, or brightly colored with black/brown or black/yellow markings.

• Braconids resemble ichneumons, but are usually smaller in size and darker in color, although some species have striking coloration.

• Ichneumon wasps are the largest family of wasps, with thousands of species, and are common almost everywhere.

• The dead hosts of many Ichneumon wasps shrink and become hard and brittle.

• The normally greenish or white cocoons of larval hosts infested by some Ichneumon wasps may darken as the wasp develops within.