# Pupae of the parasitoid Paracodrus apterogynus

- By: Enno Merivee
- Date: 2021-08-27
- Classification: Photograph
- Museum: [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pupae_of_the_parasitoid_Paracodrus_apterogynus.jpg)
- Rights: [CC0](http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en)
- Picture: https://invisiblenetwork.ai/thumbs/commons/thumb/a/a0/Pupae_of_the_parasitoid_Paracodrus_apterogynus.jpg/1920px-Pupae_of_the_parasitoid_Paracodrus_apterogynus.jpg
- Who can see it: Kids profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

The hymenopteran Paracodrus apterogynus (Haliday, 1839) is a gregarious parasitoid of click beetle (Elateridae) larvae (wireworms). Females are virtually wingless searching and attacking their hosts in the soil and laying up to 20 eggs in one larva. The young wasp larvae feed on the larva of which only the dried up shell remains. The parasitism level is actually low. Of several thousands wireworms, only 2 to 5 are parasitized. In this image a parasitized larva of the click beetle Agriotes obscurus is demonstrated.

The parasitized wireworm was collected in Estonia on August 27, 2021.

The parasitized wireworm was photographed on dark background using the digital Canon EOS 5D Mark II camera, Canon MP-E 65mm f/2.8 lens and diffused flash light.