#hyptia

[usgsbiml]

Cockroaches beware!.  Here is an Evaniid wasp, Ensign Wasp (the abdomen is a flag...get it?), possibly Hyptia harpyoides.  This group parasitizes cockroaches at least our native cockroaches.  Not sure if they find our indoor cockroaches acceptable.  

[morgandjackson]

#365Insects 49: #Parcoblatta pennsylvanica (De Geer, 1773) This Pennsylvania Wood Roach and her siblings were lucky and avoided being parasitized by #Hyptia thoracica when they were in their shared egg case. Whether her own egg cases evaded evaniids, we'll never know, although the odds are in her favour; evaniid parasitism has been estimated at 6.7% for wild wood roach egg cases. (at University of Guelph)

[morgandjackson]

#365Insects 48: #Hyptia thoracica (Blanchard, 1840) This Ensign Wasp (so named for the way the small, flag-like abdomen that is held up high) is a parasitoid of cockroach egg cases. Not just any cockroaches; this is a wasp with refined tastes, for which only the Pennsylvania Wood Roach (#Parcoblatta virginica), a common species that prefers wooded areas over our homes, will do. But more on that, later. (at University of Guelph)