Melittobia digitata

Parasitoid Wasps

Jorge M. González
University of Georgia, Athens

Discover Life | All Living Things | Insecta | Hymenoptera | Chalcidoidea | Eulophidae | Melittobia digitata
Overview

Species in the genus Melittobia belong to the family Eulophidae of the Order Hymenoptera. They are tiny wasps about 1.5 mm long and they show a remarkable plasticity of behavior. Uninseminated females can survive and eventually produce progeny of both sexes even in the absence of preferred hosts. They exhibit arrhenotokous parthenogenesis, and are gregarously developing ectoparasitoids of a wide range of hosts (pupae and prepupae) in various insect orders including Coleoptera, Lepidoptera, Diptera, and Hymenoptera. After mating, females produce a clutch of progeny in which about 95 % of the offspring are females. Melittobia displays pronounced sexual dimorphism with males being blind and flightless, very rapid life cycle (about 25 days). Males produce a pheromone that attracts females, and they have an elaborate courtship ritual. If males contact other males, they engage in ferocious battles. They are excellent organisms for laboratory experiments and are also valuable as classroom animals to aid in the study of genetics, ecology, biology and evolution.

Index
Life cycle

Click on image to enlarge
English
Life Cycle of Melittobia digitata
Life Cycle of Melittobia digitata
Spanish
Ciclo de Vida de Melittobia digitata
Ciclo de Vida de Melittobia digitata

Index
Phylogeny

Taxonomic Category Scientific Name Common Name
Phylum Arthropoda Arthropods
Class Insecta Insects
Order Hymenoptera Hymenoptera
Superfamily Chalcidoidea Parasitoid wasps
Family Eulophidae Eulophids
Genus Melittobia

Index
Geographic distribution

Described from North Carolina, U.S., it can be found also in Mexico and Canada. It is quite common in the southeastern U.S. where its natural hosts are mud daubers and potter wasps. It is commerciably available as a model insect used for teaching various concepts in different biological fields and many activities have been developed with them.

Index
References

Web Site References

Index
Acknowledgements

My thanks to John Pickering and Denise Lim for help developing the Melittobia pages and Jonathan Dye for illustrations.

Discover Life | All Living Things | Insecta | Hymenoptera | Chalcidoidea | Eulophidae | Melittobia digitata