The way in which caterpillars feed influences the future of wasp eggs | Foto: zVg

The chalcid wasp Euplectrus platyhypenae lays its eggs in caterpillars and thus helps with pest control. Depending on the combination of caterpillar species and plant (maize, beans, squash), this parasitic wasp thrives differently, as Betty Benrey’s research group at the University of Neuchâtel has discovered. Most of its eggs and its largest offspring were found on maize-eating caterpillars of the fall armyworm Spodoptera frugiperda. These findings are important for the success of the traditional mixed crop-growing system ‘milpa’ with maize, beans and squash in Mesoamerica.

J. Traine et al.: The interaction between host and host plant influences the oviposition and performance of a generalist ectoparasitoid. Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata (2020)