''Larra'', also known as mole cricket wasps or mole cricket hunters, is a genus of

wasp A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder ...

s that prey on various species of

mole cricket Mole (or Molé) may refer to: Animals * Mole (animal) or "true mole" * Golden mole, southern African mammals * Marsupial mole, Australian mammals Other common meanings * Nevus, a growth on human skin ** Melanocytic nevus, a specific type of ...

s. They have gained prominence as

integrated pest management Integrated pest management (IPM), also known as integrated pest control (IPC) integrates both chemical and non-chemical practices for economic control of pests. The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization defines IPM as "the careful consideratio ...

agents.

Distribution

Members of this genus are found worldwide, particularly in the tropics.

Life cycle

''Larra'' wasps feed on nectar as adults. Female wasps hunt adult or late-

instar An instar (, from the Latin '' īnstar'' 'form, likeness') is a developmental stage of arthropods, such as insects, which occurs between each moult (''ecdysis'') until sexual maturity is reached. Arthropods must shed the exoskeleton in order to ...

mole crickets and lay their

eggs An egg is an organic vessel in which an embryo begins to develop. Egg, EGG or eggs may also refer to: Biology * Egg cell, the female reproductive cell (gamete) in oogamous organisms Food * Eggs as food Places * Egg, Austria * Egg, Switzerland ...

upon them, first temporarily paralyzing them by

stinging Sting may refer to: * Stinger or sting, a structure of an animal to inject venom, or the injury produced by a stinger * Irritating hairs or prickles of a stinging plant, or the plant itself Fictional characters and entities * Sting (Middle-ear ...

them on the underside. The

larva A larva (; : larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into their next life stage. Animals with indirect development such as insects, some arachnids, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase ...

, upon hatching, gradually consumes the host, eventually killing it. It then

pupa A pupa (; : pupae) is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in their life cycle, the stages th ...

tes in or near the remains. The adults are solitary and do not form colonies. Incubation and development are highly variable in length and dependent upon temperature; in winter, the larvae may enter

diapause In animal dormancy, diapause is the delay in development in response to regular and recurring periods of adverse environmental conditions.Tauber, M.J., Tauber, C.A., Masaki, S. (1986) ''Seasonal Adaptations of Insects''. Oxford University Press It ...

. Each ''Larra'' species preferentially hunts a particular set of prey species, even when related prey is available. The temporary paralysis of the host is a distinctive feature of the genus out of its close allies. Other related wasps generally paralyze the host permanently and bury it so that the larva can consume it undisturbed.

Human importance

''Larra polita'', which is endemic to the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

, was successfully introduced to

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

in 1925 to help control '' Gryllotalpa orientalis'', the oriental mole cricket.Oriental Mole Cricket
A related species, ''L. bicolor'', was introduced to

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

in 1928 to control the accidentally introduced '' Neoscapteriscus didactylus'', the Changa mole cricket. Subsequent efforts were made to introduce ''L. bicolor'' to Florida for the same reason, and a population was established by 1993.

Species

There are 64 described species of ''Larra''. * '' Larra abdominalis'' Guérin-Méneville in Lefebvre, 1849 * '' Larra alecto'' (F. Smith, 1858) * '' Larra altamazonica'' F. Williams, 1928 * '' Larra amplipennis'' (F. Smith, 1873) * '' Larra analis'' Fabricius, 1804 * '' Larra anathema'' (Rossi, 1790) * '' Larra angustifrons'' Kohl, 1892 * '' Larra apicipennis'' Cameron, 1904 * '' Larra aponis'' Tsuneki, 1983 * '' Larra arabica'' Schmid-Egger, 2014 * '' Larra betsilea'' de Saussure, 1887 * ''

Larra bicolor ''Larra bicolor'' is a parasitoid wasp native to South America. It was introduced into Florida as a biological pest control of invasive mole crickets. Description Adult females of this species are about 22 mm long, with the males somewhat s ...

'' Fabricius, 1804 * '' Larra bicolorata'' Cameron, 1904 * '' Larra bulawayoensis'' Bischoff, 1913 * '' Larra burmeisterii '' (Holmberg, 1884) * '' Larra carbonaria '' (F. Smith, 1858) * '' Larra cassandra'' Schrottky, 1902 * '' Larra coelestina '' (F. Smith, 1873) * '' Larra corrugata'' R. Turner, 1912 * '' Larra diversa '' (Walker, 1871) * '' Larra dorsalis'' Tsuneki, 1982 * '' Larra dux '' (Kohl, 1892) * '' Larra erratica'' Bingham, 1897 * '' Larra erythropyga'' R. Turner, 1916 * '' Larra extrema'' Dahlbom, 1845 * '' Larra femorata '' (de Saussure, 1854) * '' Larra fenchihuensis'' Tsuneki, 1967 * '' Larra fuscinerva'' Cameron, 1900 * '' Larra glabrata '' (F. Smith, 1856) * '' Larra godmani'' Cameron, 1889 * '' Larra heydenii '' (de Saussure, 1890) * '' Larra iliensis'' Kazenas, 1978 * '' Larra impressifrons'' Arnold, 1923 * '' Larra madecassa'' de Saussure, 1887 * '' Larra mansueta '' (F. Smith, 1865) * '' Larra maura '' (Fabricius, 1787) * '' Larra mediterranea'' Gistel, 1857 * '' Larra melania'' Tsuneki, 1982 * '' Larra melanocnemis'' R. Turner, 1916 * '' Larra melanoptera'' Kohl, 1884 * '' Larra mendax '' (F. Smith, 1865) * '' Larra mundula'' Kohl, 1894 * '' Larra neaera'' Nurse, 1903 * '' Larra nigripes '' (Fabricius, 1793) * '' Larra obscurior'' Dalla Torre, 1894 * '' Larra outeniqua'' Arnold, 1923 * '' Larra polita '' (F. Smith, 1858) *:'' Larra polita luzonensis'' Rohwer, 1919 * '' Larra praedatrix '' (Strand, 1910) * '' Larra princeps '' (F. Smith, 1851) * '' Larra psilocera'' Kohl, 1884 * '' Larra pusilla'' Arnold, 1932 * '' Larra pygidialis'' Cameron, 1904 * '' Larra rufa'' Arnold, 1929 * '' Larra saussurei'' Kohl, 1892 * '' Larra similis '' (Mocsáry, 1892) * '' Larra simillima '' (F. Smith, 1856) * '' Larra sinensis '' (Mocsáry, 1892) * '' Larra stangei'' Menke, 1992 * '' Larra tarsata '' (F. Smith, 1860) * '' Larra tawitawiensis'' Tsuneki, 1976 * '' Larra transcaspica'' F. Morawitz, 1894 * '' Larra variipes'' de Saussure, 1892 * '' Larra vechti'' Sudheendrakumar and Narendran, 1985 * '' Larra zarudniana'' Gussakovskij, 1933

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q291980 Crabronidae