Species Cotesia congregata (Say)

IMPORTANCE

Cotesia congregata (Say) is the most significant parasitoid of the tobacco hornworm, Manduca sexta as well as a number of other ecologically related sphingid caterpillars (Gilmore, 1938; Fulton, 1940; Rabb et al., 1969). It is a common feature of many home gardens as well as field crops, and the typical representative of the family Braconidae shown in general textbooks.

This species has also been used extensively in the laboratory as a model system for studying the physiology of host-parasitoid interactions (e. g. Alleyne and Beckage, 1997; Gelman et al., 1998, 1999; Harwood et al, 1998; Reed and Beckage, 1997; Savary et al., 1999).

 RECORDED HOSTS

• Ceratomia catalpae (Boisduval)

• Darapsa myron (Cramer)

• D. versicolor (Harris)

• Dolba hylaeus (Drury)

• Eumorpha achemon (Drury)

• E. pandorus (Hübner)

• Hemaris diffinis (Boisduval)

• Lapara bombycoides Walker

• Manduca quinquemaculata (Haworth)

• Manduca sexta (Linnaeus)

• Paratrea plebeja (Fabricius)

• Sphecodina abbottii (Swainson)

• Sphinx chersis (Hübner)

• Sphinx kalmiae Smith

DIAGNOSIS

• Body length approximately 2 mm.

• Female antenna approximately same length as body

• Tegulae yellowish

• Disc of scutellum shiny, at least partially punctate but not corasely sculptured

• Posterior coxae dark brown to black, weakly sculptured on outer faces

• Inner spur of hind tibia longer than the outer, and more than half as long as hind 
  basitarsus 

• Metasoma not strongly compressed laterally (less than 4X as long as broad in dorsal 
  view) 

• First three metasomal tergites completely black

• First metasomal tergite broadening apically

• Second metasomal tergitecoarsely sculptured, with straight hind margin

• Third metasomal tergum smooth or sculptured only at extreme anterior margin

• Gregarious cocoons white, spun separately on the back of the host caterpillar

SYNONYMIES

• Microgaster congregatus Say 1836 Boston J. Nat. Hist. 1 (3): 262.
• Microgaster utilis French 1880 Can. Ent. 12: 42. 
• Apanteles (Protapanteles) augustus Viereck 1917. Bull. Conn. St. Geol. Nat. Hist Surv. 22: 187, 194.
• Cotesia congregata Mason 1981 Mem. Ent. Soc. Can. 115: 110.

REFERENCES

• Alleyne, M. & N.E. Beckage. 1997. Parasitism-induced effects on host growth and metabolic efficiency in tobacco hornworm larvae parasitized by Cotesia congregata. J. Insect Physiol. 43:407-424.
• Fulton, B. B. 1940. The hornworm parasite, Apanteles congregatus (Say) and the hyperparasite, Hypopteromalus tabacum (Fitch). Annals of the Entomological Society of America 33: 231-244.
• Gelman, D.B., Kelly, T.J., Reed, D.A. & N.E. Beckage. 1999. Synthesis/release of ecdysteroids by Cotesia congregata, a parasitoid wasp of the tobacco hornworm, Manduca sexta. Arch. Insect Biochem. Physiol. 40: 17-29.
• Gelman, D.B., Reed, D.A., and Beckage, N.E. 1998. Manipulation of fifth-instar host (Manduca sexta) ecdysteroid levels by the parasitoid wasp Cotesia congregata. J. Insect Physiol. 44: 833-843.
• Gilmore, J. U. 1938. Notes on Apanteles congregatus (Say) as a parasite of tobacco hornworms. Journal of Economic Entomology 31: 712-715.
• Harwood, S.H., McElfresh, J.S., Nguyen, A., Conlon, C.A. & N.E. Beckage. 1998. Production of early expressed parasitism-specific proteins in alternate sphingid hosts of the braconid wasp Cotesia congregata. J. Invert. Pathol. 271-279.
• Reed, D. & N.E. Beckage. 1997. Inhibition of testicular growth and development in Manduca sexta larvae parasitized by the braconid wasp Cotesia congregata. J. Insect Physiol. 41:29-38.
• Savary, S., Drezen, J.M., Tan, F., Beckage, N.E. and Periquet, G. 1999. The exicision of polydnavirus sequences from the genome of the wasp Cotesia congregata (Braconidae, Microgastrinae) is developmentally regulated but not strictly restricted to the ovaries of the adult. Insect Molec. Biol. 8: 319-327.

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