Stats

Lifespan

A few weeks

Size

Tiny

Diet

Insectivore

Activity

Diurnal

Social

Solitary

Biome

Temperate forest

Range

Worldwide

Movement

Flight

Breeding

Egg-laying

Defense

Venom

Status

Common

About

This parasitoid wasp lives in forests and meadows across the entire globe. It injects its eggs into living caterpillars to feed its larvae from the inside out.

Life cycle

1. 1.
   egg

   A small egg is laid on or near the larval food source and hatches within days or weeks.
2. 2.
   juvenile

   An immature insect feeds and molts, growing through successive instars.
3. 3.
   subadult

   A near-adult insect has wing buds or near-mature form, one molt away from full size.
4. 4.
   adult

   Fully grown, with full wings and adult coloration.

Learn more

• View on iNaturalist →

Taxonomy

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Arthropoda

Class

Insecta

Order

Hymenoptera

Family

Braconidae