Pipe-organ Mud Wasp vs Cabbage Looper Parasite

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Pipe-organ Mud Wasp Cabbage Looper Parasite
Scientific Name Trypoxylon figulus Microplitis plutellae
Order Hymenoptera Hymenoptera
Family Crabronidae Braconidae
Size 8-12 mm 2-4 mm
Habitat Underground Farmland
Diet Predators Parasitoids
Regions Europe North America, Europe, Asia
Conservation Least Concern Least Concern

Pipe-organ Mud Wasp

A slender black solitary wasp that builds mud-tube nests in hollow stems and holes, provisioning them with paralyzed spiders. Named for the organ-pipe arrangement of its mud cells.

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Did You Know?

Builds multiple tube-shaped mud cells arranged like the pipes of a church organ.

Cabbage Looper Parasite

A small dark braconid wasp that attacks caterpillars of the diamondback moth and cabbage looper. A single larva emerges and spins a dark cocoon beside the dead host.

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Did You Know?

The emerging larva spins its cocoon so fast that the entire pupation process is completed within just a few hours.