Host-location
Guides
Aleochara
Aleochara is a genus of rove beetles (Staphylinidae) distinguished by its parasitoid larval life history. Adults are predatory, feeding on eggs, larvae, and puparia of scatophagous and necrophagous Diptera. Larvae are ectoparasitoids that develop inside fly puparia, killing the host. The genus contains at least 150 and possibly more than 400 species across 16 subgenera, with a worldwide distribution except Antarctica. Several species, notably Aleochara bilineata, are significant biological control agents of agricultural pest flies.
Anoplius splendens
Anoplius splendens is a spider wasp in the family Pompilidae. Laboratory studies have demonstrated that adult females exhibit olfactory learning behavior, specifically learning to associate the odor of host spider feces with the presence of suitable hosts. This cognitive ability enhances their efficiency in locating host microhabitats. The species was described by Dreisbach in 1949.
Antistrophus rufus
Antistrophus rufus is a gall wasp in the family Cynipidae that induces galls in flowering stems of prairie perennials in the genus Silphium. It is part of the A. rufus species complex, which was revised from three to five species based on morphological, ecological, and DNA barcode data. The species exhibits a unique chemical ecology: males and females use host plant volatiles as olfactory cues for mate location and host selection. Gall induction alters monoterpene enantiomer ratios in host stems, creating species-specific chemical signals.
Campoletis sonorensis
Campoletis sonorensis is a parasitoid ichneumonid wasp distributed across much of the Americas, including the United States, Brazil, and Chile. It is a generalist endoparasitoid of lepidopteran larvae, with documented hosts including Spodoptera frugiperda, Spodoptera exigua, Helicoverpa species, Chrysodeixis includens, and Heliothis virescens. The species employs sophisticated immune evasion strategies involving a mutualistic polydnavirus (Campoletis sonorensis ichnovirus, CsIV) and ovarian proteins that suppress host hemocyte function and prevent encapsulation. It has been extensively studied as a model system for host-parasitoid interactions, host selection behavior, and biological control potential.
Mesochorus
Mesochorus is a large genus of ichneumonid wasps containing approximately 690-900 described species worldwide. Members are obligate hyperparasitoids that attack the larvae of primary parasitoids, typically ichneumonid or braconid wasps, and occasionally tachinid flies. These primary parasitoids are themselves endoparasitoids of larval Lepidoptera and Coleoptera, placing Mesochorus at the fourth trophic level in complex food webs. The genus has been extensively studied in agricultural contexts due to its interactions with biological control agents.