![braconid wasp](/sites/extension.umd.edu/files/styles/optimized/public/2021-02/HGIC_insects_braconidwasp_spathius.jpg?itok=Q8q_80uM)
Braconid wasp (Spathius agrili). Photo: Jennifer Ayer, Bugwood.org
Braconid Wasps
![braconid wasp laying an egg in a cabbage aphid](/sites/extension.umd.edu/files/styles/optimized/public/2021-02/HGIC_insects_braconidwasp_aphid_400%20%281%29.jpg?itok=XkyHhFoO)
Braconid wasp parasitizing cabbage aphids. Photo: David Cappaert, Bugwood.org
![hornworm larva covered with parasitic wasp cocoons](/sites/extension.umd.edu/files/styles/optimized/public/2021-02/HGIC_insects_hornworm_braconid_400%20%281%29.jpg?itok=uY5bj9uj)
Hornworm larva covered with parasite cocoons. Photo: UM Extension
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Braconid wasps are mostly internal parasitoids, but many emerge to pupate in silken cocoons attached to the outside of their hosts, or separate but close-by.
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Perhaps the most widely recognized stage of any parasitoid wasp is the cluster of whitish/yellowish rice-like pupal cocoons of Cotesia spp. wasps (Braconids) found on tomato hornworms and cabbageworms.
Ichneumonoid wasps
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Ichneumonoid wasps typically range from about 1/10” to 1 1/2” long, although one Ichneumon species (Megarhyssa) can be nearly 3” long including its very long tail-like ovipositor.
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Ichneumons are slender, wasplike, with an abdomen longer than the head and thorax combined, and females frequently have an ovipositor (egg-laying organ) that is longer than their body.
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Ichneumons vary greatly in size and color, from uniformly yellowish to black, or brightly colored with black/brown or black/yellow markings.
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Braconids resemble ichneumons, but are usually smaller in size and darker in color, although some species have striking coloration.
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Ichneumon wasps are the largest family of wasps, with thousands of species, and are common almost everywhere.
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The dead hosts of many Ichneumon wasps shrink and become hard and brittle.
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The normally greenish or white cocoons of larval hosts infested by some Ichneumon wasps may darken as the wasp develops within.
![ichneumonid wasp](/sites/extension.umd.edu/files/styles/optimized/public/2021-02/HGIC_insects_IchneumonidWasp_400.jpg?itok=WoPmjOjL)
Ichneumonid wasp
![Ichneumonoid wasp drilling through bark](/sites/extension.umd.edu/files/styles/optimized/public/2021-02/HGIC_insects_ichneumon_wasp_drilling_400.jpg?itok=RwLK1OsR)
Ichneumonoid wasp drilling through bark to reach wood-boring beetle grub