BIOL 1902 Lecture 13: Parisites/ Parasitoids
7 Feb 2019
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Class 13
Host is the animal that the organism (parasitoid) is currently in.
Ovipositor is an egg-laying apparatus that female insects have and use to inject eggs in a
host.
Parasitoids are animals that eat their hosts from the inside and kill the host.
- Braconid Wasps Larvae feed on caterpillars, they begin emerging out of the host
caterpillar when in pupa state.
- Tachinid Flies Larvae are parasitoids.
- Flesh Flies Larvae are parasitoids.
Insects Laying Parasitoids
Many insects lay parasitoids on other insects, which means laying their eggs on them.
Thread-waisted Wasps paralyze caterpillars and take them to their borough, and then lay
their eggs on the caterpillar. The caterpillar ultimately dies, once the eggs hatch.
- Spider Wasps do this with spiders
Cerceris is a digger wasp that first digs a hole, spends a night in the hole, and then brings in
beetles and lay their eggs in there, in the hole.
Parasitoid Insects Finding a Host
Visual Scanning is simply searching for a right host visually.
Megarhyssa Ichneumon wasps have very long ovipositors that they use to drill in tree barks,
looking for fly grubs to lay eggs on. They sense the larvae by smell and vibrations.
Pelecinid Wasps lay eggs on June Beetle Grubs in the ground by digging in the ground
Some wasps lay their eggs inside golden grub galls, inside the fly larvae surviving the winter
there.
Snapping Turtle Eggs get parasitoid eggs laid on them by wandering flies that lay their eggs
when the snapping turtles are laying their eggs.
Parasites are animals that feed on the host but do not kill the host.
Obligate Parasites are parasites that only feed on blood
- Leeches are obligate parasites
- Ticks are obligate parasite
Document Summary
Host is the animal that the organism (parasitoid) is currently in. Ovipositor is an egg-laying apparatus that female insects have and use to inject eggs in a host. Parasitoids are animals that eat their hosts from the inside and kill the host. Braconid wasps larvae feed on caterpillars, they begin emerging out of the host caterpillar when in pupa state. Many insects lay parasitoids on other insects, which means laying their eggs on them. Thread-waisted wasps paralyze caterpillars and take them to their borough, and then lay their eggs on the caterpillar. The caterpillar ultimately dies, once the eggs hatch. Cerceris is a digger wasp that first digs a hole, spends a night in the hole, and then brings in beetles and lay their eggs in there, in the hole. Visual scanning is simply searching for a right host visually.
