Aphid mummies

The majority of you correctly identified the mystery structures that were the subject of a recent "What is it?" in the PACE Member Forum.

The structures were indeed the hollowed out carcasses of aphids that had been parasitized by a tiny (less than 1/8 inch long) parasitic wasp in a group of wasps known as the Aphidiinae. Though these wasps are rarely seen (due to their small size), they play an important role in the natural regulation, or biological control,…