''Nasonia'' are a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of small pteromalid

parasitoid In evolutionary ecology, a parasitoid is an organism that lives in close association with its host (biology), host at the host's expense, eventually resulting in the death of the host. Parasitoidism is one of six major evolutionarily stable str ...

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 sting and lay eggs in the pupae of various flies. The fly species that ''Nasonia'' usually parasitize are primarily

blow flies The Calliphoridae (commonly known as blowflies, blow flies, blow-flies, carrion flies, bluebottles, or greenbottles) are a family of insects in the order Diptera, with almost 1,900 known species. The maggot larvae, often used as fishing bait, ...

and flesh flies, making ''Nasonia'' a useful tool for biocontrol of these pest flies. The small match-head sized wasps are also referred to as ''jewel wasps'' based on the emerald sheen of their exoskeleton (visible in the adjacent image). The wasp genus has acquired genes from the Pox virus and from ''

Wolbachia ''Wolbachia'' is a genus of gram-negative bacteria infecting many species of arthropods and filarial nematodes. The symbiotic relationship ranges from parasitism to obligate mutualism. It is one of the most common parasitic microbes of arthrop ...

'' in less than 100,000 years.Tiny wasp with potential for big impact
SFGate, David Perlman, Chronicle Science Editor. ''Nasonia'' and other parasitic Hymenopterans appear to have evolved at a faster rate than most other insect orders, and it has been noted by a number of authors that this could be due to ''Wolbachia'', different strains of which arguably infect or are endosymbionts of the differing species of ''Nasonia''. There are currently four described species in the genus ''Nasonia'', ''N. vitripennis'', ''N. longicornis'', ''N. giraulti'', and ''N. oneida''. ''N. vitripennis'' is found worldwide; ''N. giraulti'' is found in eastern North America and ''N. longicornis'' is found in western North America. ''N. oneida'' was the most recently discovered, having been distinguished from ''N. giraulti'' as a separate species in 2010.

Nasonia development

Upon encountering a suitable pupal host the ''Nasonia'' female uses her

ovipositor The ovipositor is a tube-like organ used by some animals, especially insects, for the laying of eggs. In insects, an ovipositor consists of a maximum of three pairs of appendages. The details and morphology of the ovipositor vary, but typica ...

(stinger) to drill a small hole through its chitinous outer

puparium 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 the ...

. She then commences to inject venom into the host before laying 20 to 40 small eggs on the hosts outer integument. After approximately 36 hours the eggs hatch and the small ''Nasonia'' larvae use their mandibles to feed on the host. Though the ''Nasonia'' young develop inside of the host's puparium, as they do not directly enter the body of their prey they are considered

ectoparasites Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives (at least some of the time) on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The en ...

. Unlike the venom of

bees Bees are winged insects closely related to wasps and ants, known for their roles in pollination and, in the case of the best-known bee species, the western honey bee, for producing honey. Bees are a monophyletic lineage within the superfamil ...

, which is primarily used in defense, ''Nasonia'' venom functions to prime the host as a good food source. Specifically, the venom causes developmental arrest in the host, thus redirecting energy from this process toward pathways that produce nutrients required by the developing ''Nasonia'' larvae. Nasonia eggs and larvae

After seven days the larvae stop feeding and move into the pupal stage where they remain for another 7 days, leading to a total developmental time from egg to adult of approximately 14 days at 25 °C. The ''Nasonia'' males, which emerge several hours before the females, escape by chewing small holes in the hosts puparium. The males wait by the escape holes for the emerging females (typically their sisters) upon which they immediately court in the attempt at mating.

Genomics

In 2010 the ''Nasonia''

genome A genome is all the genetic information of an organism. It consists of nucleotide sequences of DNA (or RNA in RNA viruses). The nuclear genome includes protein-coding genes and non-coding genes, other functional regions of the genome such as ...

was announced after work over four years by an international consortium of research groups financed by the

National Human Genome Research Institute The National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) is an institute of the National Institutes of Health, located in Bethesda, Maryland. NHGRI began as the Office of Human Genome Research in The Office of the Director in 1988. This Office transi ...

. It is expected that the discovery will lead to applications in pest control.

References

External links

Nasoniabase

''Nasonia''
resources hosted at the University of Rochester
''Nasonia''
resources hosted by Massey University {{Taxonbar, from=Q1850316 Hymenoptera genera Pteromalidae Taxa named by William Harris Ashmead