Cotesia congregata

Taxonomy

Domain	Eukarya
Kingdom	Animalia
Phylum	Arthropoda
Subphylum	Hexapoda
Class	Insecta
Subclass	Pterygota
Infraclass	Neoptera
Superorder	Holometabola
Order	Hymenoptera
Suborder	Apocrita
Superfamily	Ichneumonoidea
Family	Braconidae
Subfamily	Microgastrinae
Tribe	Microgastrini
Genus	Cotesia

Scientific Name

Cotesia congregata

Common Name

Braconid wasp

Description

Important biocontrol agents of many small and large pests, including aphids, caterpillars and beetles. Females lay their eggs inside the hosts. The larva hatches and feeds within the host, ultimately killing it and emerging as an adult. Stout-bodied, slender waisted visible under magnification.

Distinctive Features

Mostly black, sometimes with a pale yellow or light brown abdomen. These stout bodied yet slender waisted parasitoid wasps usually require a hand lens or microscope along with a taxonomic key to properly identify.

Life Cycle

Several species in the family Braconidae attack aphids and caterpillar pests. Aphid parasitoids pupate inside the dead aphid transforming its exoskeleton in to a golden pupal case that bloats the original size of the aphid, called an “aphid mummy”. The wasp adult emerges from its host by chewing a round exit hole. Caterpillar parasitoids may lay multiple eggs, which can cause many white or brown cocoons to sprout out of the insect before the new generation of wasps emerge.

Prey

Aphids and caterpillars, including European corn borer, armyworms, hornworms, diamondback moth, corn rootworm and cucumber beetles, leafminers.

Habitat

Herbaceous and arboreal microhabitat wherever hosts can be found.

Floral Resources

Adults are attracted to flowers that are rich in nectar as a food source.

Distribution

Cosmopolitan.

Origin

Native and exotic.

Occurrence

Common.

Size

3-8 mm.

Color

Black, yellow, brown.

Acknowledgements

We thank the North Central IPM Center for funding this project and members of the Great Lakes Vegetable Working Group for supplying the bulk of the content. We also acknowledge Michigan State University, Oregon State University, the Xerces Society, and USDA Agricultural Research Services for their support and contributions to the development of this smartphone app.

Some information regarding pollinators and habitat management was adapted with permission from Attracting Native Pollinators, the Xerces Society’s guide to protecting North Americas bees and butterflies. The bulletin "How to Reduce Bee Poisoning from Pesticides (PNW 591)" is used with permission, copyright Oregon State University. Information about colony collapse disorder and the value of pollinators to agriculture was excerpted from the USDA ARS website. Images used from Bugwood include the proper citation number.