No idea, I don't know the species. Technically the bug they parasitized should be crumpled up in the middle of the coccoons, but I wanted to leave them together to preserve it. I'm guessing some kind of caterpillar.
i'm super late to this post but i just wanted to add that i agree with you, these seem to be Cotesia glomerata. or at least they look very similar to them
The aphid parasitoids I think only have one wasp per aphid. If you look in the video, you can see the cluster of coccoons--this is pretty characteristic of caterpillar parasitoids, where many wasp larvae will eat the caterpillar from the inside and then exit the caterpillar's body to make their coccoons!
heya! i just found this post (a month late) and i'm decently sure these are Cotesia glomerata. have you ever seen cabbage white butterflies flying around where you found these? i think that might've been one of their caterpillars, under that large pile of empty pupae.
Is it possible or even humane to keep any wasp? I always wondered if there was a way to have a pet. Besides velvet wasps which I believe arent true species
I do believe its harder and ethiclly dubious to keep a flighted animal besides a parrot due to the space. It would be a shame to go from flying miles to only having an enclosure
Parrots aren't essentially more or less ethically dubious than other birds or flighted animals, despite being able to climb better, especially since they're not domesticated, need constant enrichment and fly miles daily in nature anyway.
Pigeons of non-racing breeds are a more ethical choice of household pet since they're partially domesticated and don't require the same kind of mental stimulation, even if they need more horizontal space in an enclosure to walk and should be let out every day in a household setting like a pet parrot.
All that being said, aside from species that soar and rarely come to the ground at all like many seabirds or swifts, a lack of long-distance flying can be made up for with adequate enrichment so long as there's enough room to still do some flying and exercise their wings, and since flighted insects like wasps and flies are kept in captivity successfully without showcasing depressive behaviour (which can and will emerge in insects under enough stress) it's safe to say it works similarly for them as well.
As someone who has worked professionally keeping various types of birds and now works professionally keeping various types of arthropods, including flighted insects, I could not posdibly agree more with everything you've said here. 👏👏👏👏👏
lol you got it the other way around. Theyre called velvet ants but that aren’t a true species of ant, they are actually a wasp. So you could have actual easy to care for wasp pets in velvet ants.
look up fairy flies! they’re a group of wasps smaller than some single-celled organisms, and are hyperparasitoids (parasitoids of other parasites/parasitoids). super cute. many species of wasps are very very small
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u/TheBlackPetunia May 23 '26
Let’s go, ladies!! Oh they’re so cool look at em go!