This is true even if many parasitoid larvae are feeding on one host. Larval parasitoids only consume one host during their development, and do not travel to find more. This is different from predators who kill and directly consume their prey. Once parastitization has begun, the infected host does not die right away and may continue to move and feed. If you were to open up a parasitized insect, the larvae would resemble a maggot. Once inside the parasitoid consumes the host and develop through instars much like any other insect would. Parasitoids may lay one to several eggs within a host and eggs can develop into one or multiple larvae. An Aphidius parasitoid emerges from an aphid mummy. A tobacco budworm with 4 fly eggs glued to its thorax (yellow arrows). Even if other life stages of the host are present, the adult parasitoid will likely not even consider them as a potential host for her eggs. Parasitoids are very specific to the life stage of hosts they attack. Eggs eaten by the correct host insect then hatch in the host’s gut. Parasitoid flies lack an ovipositor capable of piercing their host’s exterior, instead they either glue their eggs onto the host or lay eggs on plants eaten by their host. Most wasps will use their ovipositor to insert their eggs either in or on their prey (Figure 3). Parasitoids attack all life stages of arthropods and employ a wide range of strategies to get their eggs on or in the host. The word “wasps” generally brings to mind yellow-jackets or hornets, but most wasp species are in fact parasitoids, ranging in shape and size from small 0.008 inch fairyflies (who are wasps) to the five inch long Megarhyssa wasps.
There are over 70,000 parasitoid species across the globe. Wasps and flies contain the vast majority of insect parasitoids.
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