structural:scholar_edition
Parasitoids

Aphids are abundant and widespread, and serve as hosts to a large number of parasitoids, many of them being very small (c. 0.1 inches (2.5 mm) long) parasitoid wasps. One species, Aphis ruborum, for example, is host to at least 12 species of parasitoid wasps. Parasitoids have been investigated intensively as biological control agents, and many are used commercially for this purpose.