Braconid Wasp
Opius pallipes
Opius pallipes is a tiny parasitoid wasp found around vegetation where its fly hosts live, especially in grassy and cultivated habitats. Adults feed mainly on nectar, honeydew, and other sugary fluids, while females use a slender ovipositor to lay eggs inside fly larvae. The developing wasp larva consumes its host from within, an important natural form of population control among leaf-mining and fruit-feeding flies. Despite its wasp name, it is minute and easily overlooked, relying more on precise searching and flight than brute force.
- Type
- Venom
- Conservation status
- NE
Growth chain
- ?
- ?
- Braconid Wasp