These tiny wasps are usually brown or black with two sets of wings and a skinny "wasp" waist. Their lengths range from microscopic to nearly an inch. Parasitic wasps lay their eggs in or on a "host" insect. The eggs hatch and the wasp larvae then eat the host. Sometimes the larvae crawl out of the host and pupate in the soil. The host insect dies and the pupae develop into adult wasps that will search for new hosts. Adult wasps live from less than a month to over a year.
There are thousands of species of parasitic wasps, and most will only develop on a specific type of host insect. Most waps harm only insect pests and usually do not hurt beneficial insects. Many species of braconid and ichneumonid wasps lay their eggs in pest caterpillars like hornworms, cutworms, and earworms. The cocoon-like egg on a caterpillar contains a young wasp ready to emerge. Other species of wasps parasitize small insects, including aphids. If you see an immature aphid that is swollen and golden, there's a little braconid wasp growing inside it. Chalcid wasps attack leaf miners and apehelinid wasps mostly attack whiteflies, aphids, and scale insects. Trichogramma and mymarid wasps lay single eggs inside the eggs of many pest insects.
Adult wasps feed on the nectrar of very small flowers like umbels (dill, cilantro, parsley, other herbs, and Queen Anne's lace); composites (daisies, sunflowers, coneflowers, etc.); brassicas (cabbage family plants); and wildflowers.
These wasps are extraordinarily nice. Some are even bought and sold for non-toxic biological control. Trichogamma and aphelinids are especially popular for commercial use usually because they stay where they are released and don't disperse everywhere.
Grow lots of the above flowering plants around your vegetables. Grow tall plants like corn and sunflowers for windbreaks and plant shrubs, trees, and perennials for permanent shelter. Provide water in a small pebble-filled dish.
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