Trichogramma Wasps

Don Herbison-Evans (donherbisonevans@yahoo.com) and Stella Crossley

(Photo: courtesy of Photography Group, Centre for Biodiversity Genomics, University of Guelph)

Trichogramma Wasps are natural predators of many butterfly and wasp species. These tiny wasps are extraordinary. They live as larvae feeding on a single butterfly or moth egg. When they have consumed that egg, they pupate, and in due time emerge as a fully grown wasp. They then fly around seeking wasps of the same species but of the opposite sex, then mate, and then the females fly around looking for more butterfly and moth eggs to lay their own eggs on.

Further reading:

J. Seymour, J. Foster, & E. Brough,
Use of Trichogramma as a biocontrol agent in Australia,
Cooperative Research Centre for Tropical Pest Management,
Workshop report, Brisbane, 1994.

S.M. Smith,
Biological control with Trichogramma: advances, successes, and potential of their use
Annual Review of Entomology,
1996, pp. 375-406.