Aprostocetus vaquitarum Wolcott

(Insecta: Hymenoptera: Eulophidae)

Aprostocetus vaquitarum is an egg parasitoid of Diaprepes root weevil, Diaprepes abbreviatus.

Adults are minute wasps, less than 1.5 mm long. They have a yellow head with big red eyes, a black thorax, and a yellow abdomen.

Completion of the life cycle occurs inside the host egg and takes about 18 days at 25C. Temperatures below 15C are lethal. Each female, throughout her lifetime of approximately two weeks, lays on average 53 eggs.

Native to the Caribbean, Aprostocetus vaquitarum was introduced into Florida as a biological control of Diaprepes abbreviatus. It now is established in the southeastern regions of the Florida peninsula.

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Lateral view of adult Aprostocetus vaquitarum Wolcott

(Photographer: Rita Duncan, University of Florida)