Anastatus spp.
Eupilmid egg Wasp

Photography by Max E. Badgley (1922-2006)

Anastatus spp. adult

Photo © Max E. Badgley, published with permission from the Max E. Badgley Estate, with special thanks to the University of California, Riverside, who kindly supplied this image from the UCR Chalcidoidea database collection.

Eupelmid Egg Wasps (Anastatus spp.) are tiny wasps in the Family Eupelmidae. They are egg parasitoids, and are often hyperparasitoids, which is to say that their larvae may live inside parasitoid larva which may live inside the moth larvae they prey upon. The genus Anastatus includes many tiny species, all of which are parasitoids of insect eggs.

In the above photo, an adult Anastatus appears to be feeding on a liquid, most likely placed there to entice the insect to stop, feed, and pose--just long enough for a good photo shoot.  Over the many years that he performed as an insect photographer, Max used a myriad of tricks to coax the insects he photographed into posing for him.

Text compiled and edited by J.Cates,  curator

Badgley Photography Index

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