Aprosthema larva multiparasitised by Lathrolestes and Terozoa, with Lathrolestes usually surviving

Aprosthema larva multiparasitised by Lathrolestes and Terozoa, with Lathrolestes usually surviving An Aprosthema tardum (Klug, 1814) (Hymenoptera: Tenthredinoidea, Argidae) larva is multiparasitized by Lathrolestes erythrocephalus (Gravenhorst, 1829) (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae: Ctenopelmatinae) and Terozoa quadridens Perkins, 1962 (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae, Tryphoninae) Lathrolestes erythrocephalus is an endoparasitoid known to use Aprosthema larvae as host for the development of its larvae. After about seven days, the parasitoid egg hatches and the first instar Lathrolestes erythrocephalus larva feeds on the haemolymph. The ectoparasitoid Terozoa quadridens monitors the host larvae for several days, and they are only parasitized when they have reached the fifth instar, often just after their moult. Usually, fifth instar Aprosthema tardum larvae make cocoons between 3 to 4 days after their last moult, but this host larva is still feeding after 5 days, and a first instar Terozoa quadridens larva has hatched and is feeding on the haemolymph, behind the head of the host larva. Shaw, M.R., Kan, P., Kan-van Limburg Stirum, B. & Wahl, DB. (2022) - Biological and morphological studies on the parasitoids (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae) of Aprosthema tardum (Klug) (Hymenoptera, Argidae, Sterictiphorinae) in Var, southern France. Journal of Hymenoptera Research. https://jhr.pensoft.net/article/82107/