#braconidwasp

[homesteadhens]

Found while pruning the tomatoes! This is a tomato horn worm that has been parasitized by a braconid wasp. Those are the wasps eggs hanging off it! The developing larvae feed off the caterpillar until they emerge. Gross and so cool! I've actually never found a horn worm in my garden before so this was doubly exciting. #inthegarden #insects #nerd #tomatohornworm #braconidwasp (at Portage Lakes, Ohio) https://www.instagram.com/p/CGfnoGKnTZo/?igshid=13agoupwgiq2d

[starpointestudio]

Five colors/runs down, one more to go! #braconidwasp #tomatohornworm #beneficialinsects #highimpactpolystyrene #engraving #relief #printmaking #letterpress

[starpointestudio]

Tomato hornworm has some nasty friends #braconidwasp #beneficialinsects #printmaking #woodengraving #wip

[seedkeeping]

Tomato Hornworm (Manduca quinquemaculata) paralyzed and parasitized by the Braconid Wasp (Cotesia congregatus), which lays its eggs on the live hornworm to later hatch and eat the worm from the inside. We have carrot family flowers nearby, whose nectar attracts and feeds these wasps. #tomatohornworm #manducaquinquemaculata #braconidwasp #Cotesiacongregatu #integratedpestmanagement (at Delaware County, Pennsylvania)

[seedkeeping]

The first Tomato Hornworm (Manduca quinquemaculata) I've seen all year that hasn't yet been paralyzed and parasitized by the sting of the Braconid Wasp (Cotesia congregatus) who then lays her little white eggs all over its body to hatch and feast. Nope! This one is alive and well and crawling down the spiky stem of a Morelle de Balbis, or Lichi Tomato (Solanum sisymbriifolium), whose berries taste like cherries when cooked. #tomatohornworm #manducaquinquemaculata #braconidwasp #Cotesiacongregatu #integratedpestmanagement #roughwoodseedcollection #kutztownseedfarm #morelledebalbis #lichitomato #stickynightshade #Solanumsisymbriifolium (at The Pennsylvania German Cultural Heritage Center)

[megadiversepiedmont]

Beneficial parisitism in the garden

Truly a sign of an organic garden is the tobacco hornworm (also a tomato pest) covered with braconid wasp cocoons. Note: somewhat graphic description to follow. The mother wasp lays her eggs just below the skin of the hornworm, along with a numbing/paralyzing agent so that the worm cannot move or fall off the branch. Once the larvae have hatched, they chew their way out of their host, and pupate, by spinning a tiny oval cocoon attached to the outer skin of the worm.

The above tobacco hornworm with cocoons was on one of my Dr. Walter tomato plants.

[seedkeeping]

Tomato Hornworm (Manduca quinquemaculata) paralyzed and parasitized by the Braconid Wasp (Cotesia congregatus), which lays its eggs on the live hornworm to later hatch and eat the worm from the inside. We have dill and other flowers nearby, whose nectar attracts and feeds these wasps. In the lower right corner is me at 17 with big hair in my garden with what was probably my first hornworm sighting. #tomatohornworm #manducaquinquemaculata #braconidwasp #Cotesiacongregatu #integratedpestmanagement #flashbackfriday #roughwoodseedcollection (at Devon, Pennsylvania)