The Chrysididae are known by various common names, such as jewel wasps, emerald wasps, or ruby wasps; all these names refer to their jewel-like colors, which may easily outdo those of various gems. Chrysids lay one (or sometimes a few) egg(s) in the nest of their host. The hatched larva of some species waits with commencing its own development till the host larva's development is almost completed; the chrysid larva then feeds on the host larva. These species are thus ectoparasitoids. Alternatively, the hatched chrysid larva kills the egg or young larva of the host and then feeds on the prey that was provisioned by the host. Species with this strategy are kleptoparasites, although one could also say they are first parasitoids and after having killed the host larva become kleptoparasites.
Source: Wiśniowski, B. 2015. The Cuckoo-wasps (Hymenoptera: Chrysididae) of Poland. |
