Photo and text used courtesy Clemson University
Cooperative Extension Service.

The photo shows the pupal cocoons of this parasite on the tobacco hornworm. Other hornworms (Sphingidae) are parasitized by these parasitic insects of the order Hymenpotera.

The adult wasp inserts its eggs beneath the skin of the hornworm larva. The eggs hatch and the young braconids feed on the viscera of the hornworm until they pupate as shown in the photo. This parasite is an important factor in control of hornworms and is most beneficial to man.