A hornworm rears up when attacked by a parasitic Cotesia wasp.

filename: Cotesia3
Wham!  A parasitic phorid fly (Pseudacteon) plants her ovipositor between the abdominal sclerites of a Linepithema oblongum worker ant to lay her egg.  The oviposition takes less than a second. The hapless ant will later be consumed alive by the developing fly larva.

Termas de Reyes, Jujuy, Argentina
Wham!  A parasitic phorid fly (Pseudacteon) plants her ovipositor between the abdominal sclerites of a Linepithema oblongum worker ant to lay her egg.  The oviposition takes less than a second. The hapless ant will later be consumed alive by the developing fly larva.

Termas de Reyes, Jujuy, Argentina
Cotesia congregata (Braconidae) ovipositing into a hornworm.

filename: Cotesia7
A hornworm rears up when attacked by a parasitic Cotesia wasp.

filename: Cotesia3
A hornworm rears up when attacked by a parasitic Cotesia wasp.

filename: Cotesia3
A hornworm rears up when attacked by a parasitic Cotesia wasp.

filename: Cotesia3
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all images and text © Alex Wild 2001-2013