Recognizing the Good Bugs in Cotton - Texas Is Cotton Country ...

Cardiochiles
nigriceps
Family: Braconidae
Characteristics: The adult wasps are about
1/4 inch long with long antennae and very
dark wings. The head and thorax are black
while the abdomen and middle and hind legs
are red. C. nigriceps is sometimes called the
“red-tailed” wasp because of the red
abdomen. The ovipositor (stinger) is short
and black and often not visible. This parasite
is widely distributed across the southeastern
Cotton Belt west to Oklahoma and Texas.
These brightly colored wasps may be seen
hovering about cotton plants in search of
caterpillars to parasitize. They can be very
common in some fields, averaging 1-2 wasps
per meter (yard) of row.
Hosts: C. nigriceps is one of the most important
parasitoids of the budworm. It can only
successfully parasitize budworm larvae and a
related species, H. subflexa, which is not a
cotton pest. Wasps will sting bollworm larvae
but the parasite eggs do not develop and the
bollworm survives. Also, beet armyworm
larvae are occasionally parasitized by this
wasp. All sizes of budworm larvae are
attacked but late second and third instars are
preferred.
General Biology: Adult female wasps sting
budworm larvae and deposit eggs internally.
Eggs hatch into grubs which feed internally
for about 2 weeks. Small budworm larvae
continue to grow once parasitized while those
in the 4-5 instar do not. Once full grown, the
parasitoid grub emerges from the dead bud-
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