Predatism by the Adult Hymenopterous Parasite and Its Role in Biological Control1

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Abstract
Predatism (host-feeding and/ or mutilation of host viscera by the adult parasite) tends to increase the rate at which a parasite population reduces its host population but it also tends to increase the density of the hosts required to maintain the parasite population. Predatism by parasites appears to be limited to spp. which oviposit either in or adjacent to their hosts, the diameter of the egg being much greater than that of the ovipositor, and in which ovigenesis and ovisorption are synchronous processes. The various spp. of a genus of parasites may exhibit nearly every degree of predatism.