Aphid-exploitation

Guides

• Omalus aeneus

  Cuckoo Wasp

  Omalus aeneus is a small, metallic cuckoo wasp in the family Chrysididae. Females reach 4.5–5.4 mm in body length, males 4.4–5 mm. The species exhibits striking metallic coloration ranging from blue, green, and purple to nearly black or golden, with greenish-blue abdomen and legs. This cleptoparasitic wasp has two or more generations annually in southern Europe and exploits a remarkable indirect parasitism strategy: females oviposit into living aphids, which are subsequently captured by aphid-hunting crabronid wasps and transported to their nests, where the cuckoo wasp larva develops.

  cuckoo-waspcleptoparasiteindirect-parasitismaphid-exploitationmetallic-colorationChrysididaeHymenopteraintroduced-speciesNearcticPalearctic