Tobacco Caterpillar Braconid vs Wroughton's Army Ant

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Tobacco Caterpillar Braconid Wroughton's Army Ant
Scientific Name Microplitis demolitor Aenictus wroughtonii
Order Hymenoptera Hymenoptera
Family Braconidae Formicidae
Size 2-4 mm 2-3 mm
Habitat Farmland Heathland
Diet Parasitoids Omnivores
Regions North America, South America, Australia India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar
Conservation Not Evaluated Least Concern

Tobacco Caterpillar Braconid

A small endoparasitoid wasp that injects polydnavirus along with its eggs into caterpillar hosts. It is an important natural enemy of soybean looper and corn earworm.

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Did You Know?

It injects a symbiotic virus along with its eggs that suppresses the caterpillar's immune system.

Wroughton's Army Ant

A small reddish-brown army ant that conducts well-organized raids on termite mounds in tropical Asia. Workers are monomorphic and completely blind. Colonies are nomadic, regularly shifting their bivouac sites.

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Did You Know?

Their queens are dichthadiiform, meaning they are permanently wingless with a massively swollen abdomen devoted to egg production.