What kind of wasps eat what kind of caterpillars?

[lvtgrdn]

Hi,
I just became a waystation last fall. I have been enjoying monarchs and other butterflies for quite some time in my flower gardens,but have been seeing fewer caterpillars. I already have been growing several kinds of milkweeds, but this year, found some more from our university's arboretum plant sale.

I have some white blooming Virginia mountain mint that different kinds of wasps flock to in July and August. I moved a clump of it to a smaller flower bed, but it's right near some milkweed I planted. Are there certain kinds of wasps that eat monarch caterpillars? Should I move one of the plants? (I just planted the milkweed, so it has not sent its root into the ground yet.)

I have some other milkweed I'm about to plant where the original mountain mint was. Does anyone know if the wasps will be lead right to any caterpillars on the milkweed looking for the mountain mint? If you know a good source of information online, I'd like to check that out. I spent about 10 minutes trying to find the information I was looking for, then went ahead and decided to ask here.

It's spring. Yay!

[Mona Miller]

Wasp and other predators take advantage of nectar and food sources. I have to keep my fennel deadheaded or they come and nectar and eat all the black swallowtails.

http://www.eartheasy.com/grow_garden_insectary.htm
Garden 'Mini' Insectary

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/19 ... 055654.htm
Caterpillars Foiled When Tomato Plants Summon Parasitic Wasps
Plants can give over chemicals and attract true bugs so that can get rid of the pest that are eating them. Even milkweed is capable of doing that.

http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/cons ... icial.html
Plants that attact beneficial insects

http://crawford.tardigrade.net/bugs/BugofMonth16.html
Paper Wasp
I've seen brown and european paper wasp cutting up caterpillars to stuff into their nest for their young to feast upon. I've also seen the brown paper wasp attack a medium sized butterfly.

http://books.google.com/books?id=AwrdjV ... &q&f=false
A very good book is "An Obsession with Butterflies" by Sharman Apt Russell

[lvtgrdn]

Hi Mona,
Thanks for your comment and the links. I checked them out, and found them interesting, but did not find out if all wasps eat caterpillars. Some of the articles assumed you wanted wasps to eat the caterpillars to protect your plants.

[Mona Miller]

I don't think all wasp eat caterpillars. Those articles explain that the wasp are using the caterpillars to feed to their young who are in the eggs, then larvae stage. They stuff the nest with them.

http://bugguide.net/index.php?q=search& ... rch=Search
I put "wasp, caterpillars" in the search. Some wasp lay eggs in the caterpillars and then their larvae use the caterpillars as a host. I've had that happen and even seen the wasp winter over in the pupae.