A female parasitoid wasp (Euplemus vuilletti) feeds from its host, a beetle larva (Callosobruchus maculatus).

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A female parasitoid wasp (Euplemus vuilletti) feeds on its host, a beetle larva (Callosobruchus maculatus), by puncturing the beetle's cuticle with its ovipositor. The wasp creates a feeding tube to extract fluids from its host. In this picture the host beetle (bottom) is housed in an artificial seed made of a gelatin capsule, which allows observation of the feeding tube (white tube) without altering the wasp's feeding behavior. The feeding tube begins at the host surface and ends at the surface of the capsule. Females of this parasitoid species can either feed on a host or lay an egg on it. This photograph originally appeared on the cover of Ecology (86:3) in March of 2005.

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Primary or BEN resource type	Photograph
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Format	jpeg
Ecological Core Concept	Interspecific interactions -- Predation and herbivory Interspecific interactions -- Parasitism and disease Interspecific interactions
Drought & Water-Ecosystem Services Collection	Off
Conservation Targets Under Global Change Collection	Off
Big Data Collection	Off
Editor's Choice	No
Audience	Undergraduate upper division 15-16 Undergraduate lower division 13-14
Pedagogical Use Description	This photograph can be used to illustrate parasitism in general and as a specific example of a feeding method in which the female wasp uses her ovipositor to create a feeding tube. The use of the gelatin capsule provides a unique view of the feeding process. The photograph could be used as a starting point for discussions of parasitism, parasitoids, and feeding behavior.
Keywords	parasite, parasitoid, feeding, parasitism, prey, host, ovipositor
Key taxa	Hymenoptera, Hymenoptera, Coleoptera, Bruchidae, Euplemus vuilletti, Callosobruchus maculates
Life science discipline (subject)	Ecology
Primary Author Controlled Name	David Giron
Primary Author Affiliation	Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
Primary Author email	david.giron@univ-tours.fr
Rights	Copyright 2005 by the Ecological Society of America.
Resource Editor	Unknown
Reviewer A	Unknown
Reviewer B	Unknown
Date Of Record Submission	2008-04-04

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