Crognum asks:

>I know there are species of wasp that are parasitic and species of
>wasp that are non-parasitic, but is there a case, for example, where a
>wasp species has given rise to wasp species Y and Z, where X is
>parasitic and Y is not?

A great many wasps, such as the "fig wasps" (Chalcidoidea) have
phylogenically
radiated to be both "parasitic" on the fruiting bodies of plants.
as well as
becoming at least facultative parasitoids of the lepidopteran, coleopteran and
dipteran larvae that often appear in that setting.

For a more technical paper on the subject, primarily directed at the
embryological changes that seem to occur with these niche shifts in at least a
few wasp families, please see:

   http://www.pnas.org/cgi/reprint/95/3/1097.pdf

Wirt Atmar
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