Ichneumon eumerus

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Ichneumon eumerus
Systematics
Class : Insects (Insecta)
Order : Hymenoptera (Hymenoptera)
Subordination : Waist Wasps (Apocrita)
Family : Wasps (Ichneumonidae)
Genre : Ichneumon
Type : Ichneumon eumerus
Scientific name
Ichneumon eumerus
Wesmael , 1857

Ichneumon eumerus is a hymenoptera fromthe parasitic wasp family (Ichneumonidae). Theparasiticwasp, whichhas become very rare, is a hyperparasite , which means that it lives parasitically on another parasite .

Reproduction

Host animals for their larvae are the caterpillars of the blue gentian ant ( Phengaris rebeli ) and the blue gentian ant ( Phengaris alcon ). During the host search, the females of I. eumerus only penetrate ant nests where there are host caterpillars. This means that the wasps are able to determine from the outside whether there are potential hosts in the nest. The wasp enters the anthill of the host ant Myrmica schencki and lays its eggs in the caterpillar. The parasitic wasp larvae eventually pupate in their host's pupa and leave the ant burrow as wasps.

In order to get into and out of the burrow, the wasps use six different chemical substances against the ants. One of them first attracts the ants so that they contact the other five substances. These repel the ants and at the same time release alarm pheromones. In a blind frenzy, the ants attack their nestmates, who in turn are alerted, creating a chain reaction that repels the wasp. The resulting chaos often affects the whole nest for many hours or even days.

Danger

Since the host butterfly is considered endangered, it was assumed that Ichneumon eumerus must be even more endangered. However, model calculations show that the ichneumon wasp generally survives as long as the blue has a sufficiently large habitat to survive on its own. However, it reacts a little more sensitively than the butterfly to habitats that are too humid.

credentials

  1. ^ Petra Jacoby: Chemically initiated civil war . In: Chemistry in Our Time. Volume 36, Issue 4, Pages 212-212, 2002; doi : 10.1002 / 1521-3781 (200208) 36: 4 <212 :: AID-CIUZ212> 3.0.CO; 2- #
  2. ↑ a b J. A. Thomas, JJ Knapp, T. Akino, S. Gerty, S. Wakamura, DJ Simcox, JC Wardlaw, GW Elmes: Parasitoid secretions provoke ant warfare. NATURE, VOL 417, 30 MAY 2002, doi : 10.1038 / 417505a
  3. ↑ Michael E. Hochberg, GW Elmes, JA Thomas and RT Clarke: Effects of habitat reduction on the persistence of Ichneumon eumerus (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae), the specialist parasitoid of Maculinea rebeli (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae). Journal of Insect Conservation, 2, 59-66 (1998)

literature

  • Anett Richter: Nature conservation-oriented population-biological study in the Leipzig area using the example of the "FFH species" Maculinea nausithous (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae). Diploma thesis, Anhalt University of Applied Sciences, June 2003

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