Rapacious parasitoid (Dryinus bruneianus)

Light micrograph of a rapacious parasitoid (Dryinus bruneianus). This female parasitoid is both rapacious and raptorial, using her praying-mantis like forelegs to catch leafhoppers, into which she lays a single egg. Her larva devours the leafhopper as an external parasitoid. Many species in the wasp family Dryinidae have been successfully used as biological control agents against leafhoppers of major agricultural importance both as crop pests, and more importantly, as vectors of deadly plant viruses. Dryinids are very effective predators, moving extremely rapidly to catch their equally fast-moving prey. Some species have been used successfully against pests of rice in South East Asia, as well as against sugarcane leafhopper pests. Like many effective insect predators, dryinids have very large eyes. Length of the parasitoid is approximately 5 mm.