Hyperparasite

[a][3] Hyperparasites are found mainly among the wasp-waisted Apocrita within the Hymenoptera, and in two other insect orders, the Diptera (true flies) and Coleoptera (beetles).

Hyperparasitism intrigues entomologists because of its multidisciplinary relationship to evolution, ecology, behavior, biological control, taxonomy, and mathematical models.

A well-studied case is that of the small white butterfly (Pieris rapae), a serious horticultural pest of Brassica species such as cabbage and Brussels sprouts.

Hyperparasitoids are known to find their victims through herbivore-induced plant volatiles emitted in response to attack by caterpillars that in turn had been parasitized by primary parasitoids.

The larvae of parasitic wasps developing inside the caterpillar alter the composition of the oral secretions of their herbivorous host and thereby affect the cocktail of volatiles the plant produces.

A hyperparasitoid wasp ( Pteromalidae ) on the cocoons of its host, a braconid wasp (subfamily Microgastrinae ), itself a koinobiont parasitoid of Lepidoptera
A hyperparasitic microsporidian , Nosema podocotyloidis , a parasite of a digenean , Podocotyloides magnatestis , itself a parasite of the fish Parapristipoma octolineatum [ 1 ]
The hyperparasitic monogenean Cyclocotyla bellones is found on Ceratothoa parallela , a cymothoid isopod parasite of the sparid fish Boops boops