Parasitoid Wasp

• When the larvae emerge through the caterpillar's skin, it is still alive and, instead of fleeing, spins silk over the cocoons of its parasites and defends them from predators until it dies: the wasp manipulates its behaviour even after leaving it.
• The cabbage plant attacked by the caterpillar gives off volatile compounds that attract this very wasp, a chemical call for help that the crop sends out to its ally.
• The clusters of yellow cocoons beside a dying caterpillar, very common in vegetable plots, are often mistaken for the butterfly's own eggs.
• The female lays dozens of eggs inside a single large white butterfly caterpillar; the larvae develop within it, break out through the skin and spin a cluster of white cocoons around it.
• The sex ratio is heavily skewed towards females, because the males compete to mate with their sisters before dispersing.
• The males emerge before the females, a phenomenon called protandry.
• It has been introduced on several continents as biological control for cabbage pests.

Skeleton type

Invertebrate - chitin exoskeleton (insect)

Habitat and environment

Vegetable plots, brassica crops and field banks with crucifers

Size at birth

After 15-20 days inside the caterpillar the larvae emerge and spin yellowish silk cocoons in a cluster; the adults emerge 7-10 days later, giving a total cycle of 22 to 30 days

Sexual maturity

The female mates almost immediately after leaving the cocoon and begins to lay; the males emerge before the females and disperse

Gestation / incubation

The larvae develop inside the caterpillar for between 15 and 20 days

Litter / clutch size

From 16 to 52 eggs laid in a single caterpillar

Sources consulted: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cotesia_glomerata; Ficha de especie de Cotesia glomerata; Cornell; Ficha de identificacion de Cotesia glomerata; ficha de identificacion de la especie

Best time: It is detected mainly by the clusters of white or yellowish cocoons beside dead Pieris caterpillars, in vegetable gardens and brassica crops