A wasp that lays its eggs in the nest of a bee or another species of wasp.
a ruby-tailed wasp.a true wasp lacking a worker caste, whose larvae are fed by the social wasp host (several species in the family Vespidae, including Vespula austriaca).
‘We investigate the interaction with a specialised cuckoo wasp whose larvae kill the beewolf larvae.’
‘Should the bee return whilst the cuckoo-wasp is still present, the cuckoo wasp curls up into a tight ball.’
‘The cuckoo wasp eggs develop into males and fertile females only - no cuckoo wasp workers are produced.’
‘The cuckoo wasps, as well as the other Hymenoptera previously discussed, are unable to inflict any sort of sting.’
‘Parasitoids usually target certain groups; for example, spider wasps infect spiders and cuckoo wasps infect other wasps.’
‘There are approximately 3000 species of cuckoo wasps throughout the world, including about 230 species in the United States and Canada.’
‘The cuckoo wasp gets its name because it, too, is a nest parasite.’
‘If the female cuckoo wasp is discovered invading the Mud-dauber's nest, she rolls into a ball and uses special armour plates on her body to protect her.’
‘The cuckoo wasp has no workers and therefore lays its eggs in the nest of the red wasp where they are reared by the red wasp workers.’
‘The cuckoo wasp is predatory of sand wasps and lays its larvae in the nests of hosts after killing the host larvae.’
‘Based on chemical and genetic data, I am trying to find out, whether there are different host-races in the cuckoo wasp.’
‘Some species of cuckoo wasps (family Chrysididae) invade the nests of wasps or bees, kill the larvae they find, and deposit their own eggs on the stored provisions.’
‘Ground nests are parasitized by bright green cuckoo wasps, by fuzzy colorful ‘velvet ants’ (be careful, velvet ants have a painful sting), and sometimes by parasitic bees with sharply pointed abdomens.’
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