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A study has been conducted to examine the factors which contribute to inbreeding depression in the parasitic wasp, Bracon hebetor. The results revealed that wasps' willingness to mate depended on the age of the adults and on the relationship of the host to the brood. Females discriminated against males that developed from the same brood as themselves, which they recognize for at least five days after emergence. Otherwise, the wasps reach maturity and eventually depart from the natal site.

A study of the reproductive performance, female clutch size and sex ratios of Bracon hebetor, an outbreeding parasitic wasp species, revealed that smallness in size had only a negligible effect on the reproductive performance of both males and females. Density-dependent selection, non-ovicidal and ovicidal behavior for low and high population densities respectively were found to be the major influences on ovicide and sex ratio changes in this ectoparasitoid species.