Parasitic wasp vs Parasitoid wasp

Encarsia citrina compared with Encarsia formosa

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Parasitic wasp	Parasitoid wasp
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum same	Arthropoda (Arthropods)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class same	Insecta (Insects)	Insecta (Insects)
Order same	Hymenoptera (Ants, Bees & Wasps)	Hymenoptera (Ants, Bees & Wasps)
Family same	Aphelinidae	Aphelinidae
Genus same	Encarsia	Encarsia
Species	Encarsia citrina	Encarsia formosa

Evolutionary Relationship

Parasitic wasp and Parasitoid wasp share a common ancestor at the Genus level: Encarsia.

Conservation Status

Parasitic wasp

NE — Not Evaluated

Parasitoid wasp

NE — Not Evaluated

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Parasitic wasp	Parasitoid wasp
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Parasitic wasp

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Range

Widely distributed across Asia (Taiwan), Europe (9 countries), and North America (Canada, United States).

Parasitoid wasp

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Range

Widely distributed across Asia (Israel, Japan), Europe (25 countries), and North America (Canada, United States).

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 11 countries:

🇧🇪 Belgium 🇨🇦 Canada 🇫🇷 France 🇩🇪 Germany 🇳🇱 Netherlands 🇳🇴 Norway 🇵🇹 Portugal 🇪🇸 Spain 🇸🇪 Sweden 🇬🇧 United Kingdom 🇺🇸 United States