Trioxys pallidus

Just wanted to share a bit about the only Hymenopteran I see at work . . .

These guys are a cool tiny parasitic wasp that specialize in aphids. The female lays her eggs in young aphids and the larvae develop inside -- eventually the aphid dies and turns into a swollen dried husk while the larva develops and pupates.

I've seen a female laying eggs before. It's really cool to watch -- she'll wander around a leaf, tapping with her antennae until she finds an aphid, then she just sticks her abdomen out, lays an egg, and continues on her way. The aphid just sits there.

It's also really cool when you find an aphid mummy where the wasp hasn't emerged yet. You can usually see the wasp larvae through the skin as it moves around. Sometimes you can even find an adult that's getting ready to emerge. I've seen that but never seen one actually emerging.

I don't have any pics that I've taken, but here's a couple I've found online:

>Pic 1<

>Pic 2<

If anyone's wondering what I do for work, I'm a research assistant for an entomologist at OSU. One of my duties includes counting the number of aphids per leaf (native / invasive, healthy / parasitized, adult / immature) in several local hazelnut orchards.

oh wow they're really small!

They are! I had a camera at work yesterday and didn't think to take any pictures, but I found a couple live ones when I was going through the samples.

do they sting?

Most likely... though I know next to nothing on solitary wasps, I may try to keep some this year.(Thread waisted wasps)

These guys don't sting -- they just use their ovipositor for laying eggs.

I was actually going through some more samples on Friday (and I'll be doing more today) where I might see these guys, but I don't think I'll be able to bring my camera with me. I'd love to get a shot of one walking across a dime to show you how tiny they are -- or if I could get one of the aphid mummy that has the larva moving around inside.