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Project Noah Nature School
Tachininae sp
I think I just witnessed the beginning of the end of the beautiful catterpillar.. It looks like this "Fly" is laying eggs on the head of the caterpillar!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMjMb42zV...
All Tachinid Flies share the parasitoid habit. Their larvae are internal parasites of many orders and families of insects (and a few other arthropods). Their host ranges are relatively broad. They parasites on larvae of moths, larvae of butterflies, larvae and adults of beetles, adults of bugs, or adults of various orthopteroid orders, such as grasshoppers and stick insects. Depending on species, they develop either singly or in grope and either pupate in the dead host or leave the host and pupate in soil or plant litter.
Eat or being eaten... The same fight as everyday in nature... Excellent documentation!!
Thanks Martin.. You are Genius...!!
Keep sharing your knowledge and make Project Noah precious..!!
Christiane, you may like to try an experiment and remove the sticky eggs with cotton buds and soapy water or carefully with tweezers.
You have a hawkmoth (Daphnis hypothous) . Maybe there is always someting else to learn and so the spotting is never quite complete =)
Christiane, this is an excellent spotting of nature at her best (or worst). This seems cruel but in biology there is no free lunch and you can understand why some moths need to lay 1000 eggs.
Your predator is a tachinid fly http://www.brisbaneinsects.com/brisbane_... and the eggs mean a life sentence usually for the caterpillar. See my spotting here http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/799...
NO WAY!! I help the whales in nets or the eagle in barbed wire.. But not nature going its way!
This is definitely an example of how to document our world. Fabulous!!! Good commentary, good camera work, great video. Now we need an ID.
Great spotting. The video is wonderful. Weren't you tempted to try to wipe the eggs off?
Well that has to be of the most interesting spottingss documented on here with beautiful camera work. The first and last picture are excellent.
Spotted on Feb 27, 2012
Submitted on Feb 27, 2012
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