Pieris
Guides
Cotesia glomerata
white butterfly parasite, Cabbage White Parasitoid Wasp
Cotesia glomerata is a small gregarious parasitoid wasp in the family Braconidae that specializes in attacking caterpillars of Pieris butterflies, particularly the large white (Pieris brassicae) and small white (Pieris rapae). Females deposit 16–52 eggs into a single host caterpillar, where the larvae develop internally for 15–20 days before emerging and spinning white silken cocoons in clusters on or near the host. The species exhibits complex behavioral adaptations including superparasitism, local mate competition with highly female-biased sex ratios, and protandry with males emerging before females. Originally described by Linnaeus in 1758, it has been widely introduced for biological control of cabbage pests and occurs across multiple continents.
Lysibia
Lysibia is a genus of hyperparasitoid wasps in the family Ichneumonidae. The best-studied species, Lysibia nana, is a solitary secondary idiobiont hyperparasitoid that attacks pre-pupae and pupae of gregarious braconid parasitoids in the genus Cotesia, particularly C. glomerata. These wasps are winged, synovigenic (emerging without mature eggs), and do not host-feed as adults. They locate hosts using chemical cues including kairomones from the primary parasitoid and herbivore-induced plant volatiles. The genus is part of the overwintering Apanteles-Tetrastichus-Lysibia complex associated with pierid butterfly hosts.