Alabagrus stigma (Brullé)

(Insecta: Hymenoptera: Braconidae)

Alabagrus stigma is a solitary endoparasitoid and an important natural enemy of sugarcane borer, Diatraea saccharalis (Fabricius).

Adult wasps are 6.8 to 11.6 mm long and slender. They have a black head and antennae and orange thorax, abdomen and legs. Larvae are slender and whitish, almost transparent.

Females deposit individual eggs directly into the host larva. The larva completes its development, leading to host death, and an adult wasp emerges from the cadaver. In Florida, Alabagrus stigma is active year-round.

Alabagrus stigma is distributed widely from Florida southward to Uruguay and northern Argentina.

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Adult of Alabagrus stigma (Brullé)

(Photographer: Lyle Buss, University of Florida)