Bathyplectes (genus - parasitoids)

Ichneumonidae • Hymenoptera parasitoids • Beneficials/natural enemies

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Bathyplectes curculionis (click on image to enlarge it)
Authors: CNC/BIO Photography Group, Centre for Biodiversity Genomics
Source: BOLD Systems

Bathyplectes Förster, 1869

This genus of solitary endoparasites is widely distributed and includes around 50 species. Several are important as natural enemies of the alfalfa weevil, Hypera postica. The species listed below were introduced into North America from Europe around 1910 against this pest. The females lay their eggs into early larval stages of the weevil. Only one parasitoid develops per host larva, killing it eventually and then emerging to form a characteristic banded cocoon.

Currently, the following species have been entered into the system:

• Bathyplectes anurus (parasitoid)
• Bathyplectes curculionis (parasitoid)
• Bathyplectes stenostigmus (parasitoid)