Wasps attack

Field experiments have shown that ants indeed defend their caterpillars effectively. Among the caterpillars most persistent foes are marauding social wasps. Although adult wasps eat only plant products, they spend much of their time hunting caterpillars to kill, cut up, and feed to their carnivorous larvae. Caterpillars guarded by ants withstand wasp attacks much better than those without protection. 

Parasitoid wasps are the most widely studied group of insect parasites. Female wasps lay an egg(s) on or in an insect and the progeny develop utilizing that insect as their sole food source, eventually killing the host. Female parasitoids tend to be host specific and typically exploit a specific host immature life stage (e.g., egg, larvae, or pupae). Most parasitoid wasps are relatively small. Females actively seek out multiple hosts and can find and parasitize host insects in cryptic habitats. There is a wide range of species that attack stored-product insects and a considerable body of research on these natural enemies, only some of which are covered here [see Godfray (1994) for more information on parasitoids and Brower et al. (1995) and Scholler and Flinn (2000) for reviews of information specifically on stored product parasitoids]. 

Cline, L.D., Press, J.W., and Flaherty, B.R. 1986. Protecting uninfested packages from attack by Cadra cautella (Lepidoptera Pyralidae) with the parasitic wasp Venturia canescens (Hymenoptera Ichneumonidae). J. Econ. Entomol. 79, 418-420. 

A pair of meadowlarks, for example, may feed their nestlings up to 10,000 grasshoppers, plus many other kinds of bugs. Aphids and codling moth pupae are favorite winter foods for several bird species. Clusters of aphids left on strong, established plants that can tolerate them will make a "nursery" for parasitic wasps and predators to feed and breed on. So give nature a chance before you take action against a pest attack you may find that the job has been done for you. 

Linear social hierarchies that are correlated with reproduction are present in many ants, wasps and bees. In such hierarchies, higher-ranking individuals attack subordinates at... 

Enemies which are frequently mentioned are fungi, chalcid wasps and nematodes, which attack and parasitize the beetles in their winter hiding-places. 

Control In early morning, shake beetles from plants onto dropcloths, then drown them in soapy water cover plants with floating row cover apply milky disease spores or parasitic nematodes to sod to kill larvae attract native species of parasitic wasps and flies organize a community-wide trapping program to reduce adult beetle population spray plants attacked by beetles with neem. 

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