Whoever hears the word “wasp” probably thinks of useful, but also annoying and sometimes aggressive insects that one does not want to have in the house. With the parasitic wasp, on the other hand, you should rethink. We’ll tell you why you should welcome these little animals at home from time to time.
Have you never heard of the parasitic wasp? That should change quickly. Because the parasitic wasp (lat.Trichogramma) is a very useful insect, more precisely a parasite that can effectively help you in the house.
The parasitic wasp is the natural enemy of the moth – both the food moth and the textile moth. Anyone who has ever had food or textile moths in the house knows how difficult it is to combat them in the long term. Ichneumon wasps, on the other hand, provide the best remedy. The method has only advantages for us. On the one hand, they are a natural way of controlling pests because no nerve toxins are used. In addition, parasitic wasps are not visible to the naked eye, do not fly through the home and are silent. They don’t have to worry about stings either.
This is how the parasitic wasp “works”.
This is how pest control works: The parasitic wasp uses its long ovipositor to search for moth eggs – with a great sense, because it finds every egg, no matter how hidden it is. If it finds something, the parasitic wasp lays its own eggs in the eggs of the moths. Moths can no longer hatch from these parasitized eggs; wasp larvae grow instead. In this way, the life cycle of the moth is interrupted and no new larvae can grow. The life span of these parasites is short: usually it is only a few days to weeks. If the parasitic wasp finds no more moth eggs, it disappears in two possible ways: It flies through the window into nature or it crumbles into a tiny amount of dust.
You can buy parasitic wasps, for example, in hardware stores or simply on the Internet (e.g Amazon offers a wide selection). The eggs of the parasitic wasps are on small cardboard cards and are usually sent quickly and easily by post from the retailer. Normally, the cards are sent on time so that the wasps hatch when they reach you. Depending on how severe the infestation is, you should order several cards. The provider then sends these at intervals of two to three weeks.