Cuckoo wasp

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Austrian cuckoo wasp

Cuckoo wasps are those parasitic wasps whose queens do not raise workers, but "take over" the nest of another wasp by killing it from its queen and then let its workers raise their own offspring.

Way of life

The respective cuckoo wasp species is always a close relative of the parasitized species, from which it is believed to have evolved. Corresponding behavior is among the social hymenoptera z. B. also proven in ant species. Species with a corresponding way of life are called " social parasites " because they do not parasitize on individual animals (like real parasites or parasitoids), but use their social group for themselves. It is a special case of brood parasitism . Cuckoo wasps occur only in social wasp species, i.e. in real wasps and field wasps . There are also species with a corresponding way of life for the bees, which are also partly social (cf. cuckoo bumblebees ). Cuckoo wasps as social parasites therefore differ in their way of life from the much more numerous parasitoid hymenoptera , such as the gold wasps (Chrysididae), which parasitize not closely related host animals , such as the larvae of butterflies and beetles, but also not closely related hymenoptera.

For example, the parasitized forest cuckoo wasp ( Dolichovespula omissa ) which is arranged in the same genre forest wasp ( Dolichovespula sylvestris ) or Vespula austriaca ( Vespula austriaca ) as the closely related red wasp ( Vespula rufa ).

It is assumed that the preliminary stage to this behavior is the theft of captured larval food from conspecifics or closely related species, as can be observed, for example, with digger wasps of the genus Pemphredon and Psenulus .

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