Orasema simulatrix

Distribution
United States: Arizona, California, New Mexico, Texas.

Biology
Pheidole desertorum Wheeler, 1906 (Formicidae: Myrmicinae).

Plant associations: Chilopsis linearis (Cav.) Sweet (Bignoniaceae) in association with extrafloral nectaries (Carey et al., 2012)

Overall, the evolution and behavior of Orasema simulatrix are tied to its ant host, with the wasp dependent on the host plant. This wasp is closely associated with a common desert plant that can harbor populations of an ant host such as Pheidole desertorum. Furthermore, both adult female wasps and planidia exhibit behaviors that increase the chances of encounter between planidia and their ant hosts.The use of extrafloral nectaries has not been documented for any ant parasitoid. A direct food-source interaction is known only for eucharitid parasitoids of camponotine ants, which lay their eggs into fruit attractive to the ants (Heraty and Barber 1990). With the vast diversity of foraging behaviors, food sources, and plant associations of ants, these factors may allow a broader avenue of opportunity for adaptations by the wasps to their particular ant hosts.