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Sticker of Common hover fly parasitoid wasp
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Common hover fly parasitoid wasp

Diplazon laetatorius

The common hover fly parasitoid wasp is a small, slim wasp. It has an unusual way of raising its young. The mother lays her eggs on the eggs or babies of hoverflies, and her own young grow up inside them.

Lives in
Many parts of the world, wherever hoverflies live
Top speed
about 22 km/h (14 mph)
Flying, estimate
What does it eat?
The grown-up wasps drink flower nectar. Their larvae grow inside hoverfly larvae and feed on them.
For real!Photo of Common hover fly parasitoid wasp
Picture by Donald Hobern. CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

Grown-ups like the flowers of the carrot family best, such as wild carrot and cow parsley.

2

Its young live inside a hoverfly larva and come out later as grown-up wasps.

3

It was first described in 1781 by the scientist Johan Christian Fabricius.

you asked

Most asked questions about Common hover fly parasitoid wasp

?What does the hover fly parasitoid wasp eat?

The adults drink nectar. The young grow inside hoverfly larvae.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Diplazon laetatorius
Named by
Fabricius, 1781
Group
Wasps and hornets
Family
Ichneumonidae
Classification
Insecta > Hymenoptera > Ichneumonidae
Lives on
Europe, Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Australia and Oceania

Where the facts come from

  1. Diplazon laetatorius (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by Donald Hobern. CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.

If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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