(Aleiodes terminalis)
Conservation • Description • Habitat • Biology • Distribution • Taxonomy
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Description |
Terminal mummy wasp is a small, slender, parasitic wasp. It occurs in the eastern United States from Maine and Virginia in the east to North Dakota, Colorado, and Oklahoma in the west. It is very common in the east, and may be the most common mummy wasp (genus Aleiodes) in eastern North America. Adults are orange and black, slender, and 3 ⁄16″ to 5 ⁄16″ (5 to 8 mm) long. The head is black. There are two large compound eyes at the side of the head and three small simple eyes (ocelli) in a triangle on the top of the head. The distance between each lateral ocellus and the nearest compound eye is about equal to the width of the ocellus. The long, thread-like, antennae have 55 to 62 segments. They are brown in the middle, black at the tip. The front part of the body (mesosoma) is entirely black. The pronotum is more or less triangular in profile, and extends nearly to the bases of the wings. The first abdominal segment is fused to the thorax and gives the thorax the appearance of having four segments. The small plates covering each wing base (tegulae) is yellow. The remaining part of the abdomen (metasoma) has four segments. The first two segments of the metasoma are orange, the last two black. The third segment is sometimes partially orange. The first segment is narrower at the base than at the tip, and has a longitudinal ridge in the middle. The first three segments are sculptured. On the female, the ovipositor is short, rises in front of the tip of the abdomen, and cannot be withdrawn. The wings are clear but lightly tinted brown. The thickened leading edge (costal area) of the forewing does not have a cell. In the lower part of the forewing there is only a single recurrent (backward-turning) vein, not two veins forming a cell, as in the ichneumonid wasps. The first cubital cross-vein (1cu-a) crosses after the first medius vein (1M) by more than twice its length. On the hind wing, vein RS is straight, and the m-cu vein is a short stub. The legs are orange and black. The second part of the leg (trochanter) has two segments. On the hind leg, the fourth segment (tibia) is black with a broad, yellowish-white band near the base. The end part of the leg (tarsus), corresponding to the foot, has five segments. The terminal segment has a pair of claws at the tip. The claws are not toothed. On the hind leg, all segments of the tarsus are black. |
Size |
Total length: 3 ⁄16″ to 5 ⁄16″ (5 to 8 mm) |
Similar Species |
False terminal mummy wasp (Aleiodes pseudoterminalis) is very similar. The second segment of the rear part of the body is black, not red. |
Habitat |
Fields |
Biology |
Season |
Four to six generations per year: late May to late September |
Behavior |
Adults are active at night and are attracted to lights. |
Life Cycle |
The female inserts an egg into the caterpillar of an owlet moth. The larva consumes the living caterpillar, eventually killing it. It completes its development and pupates within the mummified remains of the caterpillar. The appearance of the mummified host is an important feature in identifying the wasp inside. Adults are short-lived. Females live about 32 days, males about 16 days. There are four to six generations per year. |
Larva Hosts |
Caterpillars of Noctuidae (owlet moths) |
Adult Food |
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Distribution |
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Sources |
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5/3/2024 | ||
Occurrence |
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Taxonomy |
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Order |
Hymenoptera (ants, bees, wasps, and sawflies) |
Suborder |
Apocrita (narrow-waisted wasps, ants, and bees) |
Superfamily |
Ichneumonoidea (ichneumonid and braconid wasps) |
Family |
Braconidae (braconid wasps) |
Subfamily |
Rogadinae (mummy wasps) |
Genus |
Aleiodes (common mummy wasps) |
Several wasps formerly classified in the genus Rogas are now recognized as belonging to the genus Aleiodes. Terminal mummy wasp was formerly classified as Rogas terminalis. |
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Subordinate Taxa |
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Synonyms |
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Rogas terminalis |
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Common Names |
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terminal mummy wasp |
Glossary
Gaster
The bulbous part of the abdomen of ants, bees, and wasps. In ants it usually begins at segment three.
Mesosoma
In Hymenoptera: the front part of the body, consisting of all three segments of the thorax and the first segment of the abdomen, to which the wings are attached.
Metasoma
In Hymenoptera: the armored rear part of the body, consisting of the second segment of the abdomen and all segments posterior to it.
Ocellus
Simple eye; an eye with a single lens. Plural: ocelli.
Ovipositor
A tube-like organ near the end of the abdomen of many female insects, used to prepare a place for an egg and to place the egg.
Tarsus
On insects, the last two to five subdivisions of the leg, attached to the tibia; the foot. On spiders, the last segment of the leg. Plural: tarsi.
Tegula
A small, hardened, plate, scale, or flap-like structure that overlaps the base of the forewing of insects in the orders Lepidoptera, Hymenoptera, Diptera, and Homoptera. Plural: tegulae.
Tibia
The fourth segment of an insect leg, after the femur and before the tarsus (foot).
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Created: Created: 4/13/2019 Last Updated: © MinnesotaSeasons.com. All rights reserved. |