''Pimpla disparis'' is a species of

Ichneumonidae The Ichneumonidae, also known as ichneumon wasps, ichneumonid wasps, ichneumonids, or Darwin wasps, are a family of parasitoid wasps of the insect order Hymenoptera. They are one of the most diverse groups within the Hymenoptera with roughly 25 ...

wasp. It is a pupal parasitoid of ''

Lymantria dispar ''Lymantria dispar'', also known as the gypsy moth or the spongy moth, is a species of Lepidoptera, moth in the family Erebidae native to Europe and Asia. ''Lymantria dispar'' is subdivided into several subspecies, with subspecies such as ''Ly ...

'', although it is a generalist parasitoid, attacking other species such as '' Thyridopteryx ephemeraeformis''. It is native to the

Palearctic The Palearctic or Palaearctic is a biogeographic realm of the Earth, the largest of eight. Confined almost entirely to the Eastern Hemisphere, it stretches across Europe and Asia, north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. Th ...

realm, and has since the 1970s been introduced to the United States for biological pest control.

References

Pimplinae Insects described in 1911 Biological pest control wasps Insects used as insect pest control agents Palearctic insects Taxa named by Henry Lorenz Viereck {{Ichneumonidae-stub