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Project Noah Nature School
Less than 2 inches long, fuzzy with light beige, wispy hair interspersed with darker brown strands. 15 parasitoid eggs from a wasp of unknown species.
I found this guy in el Jardín Botánico in the center of Medellín, Colombia. I find more interesting insects here than in the huge unspoiled Parque Arví.
At first I thought this was a clutch of eggs held together with some sort of webbing. But then it started to crawl away as I was taking photos! Sure enough, it's a caterpillar that really likes to sit still that unfortunately(?) has a clutch of parasitoid eggs attached to it. I would love to know what butterfly or moth it is. Please post a response if you know!
Spotted on Jun 18, 2012
Submitted on Jun 20, 2012
6 Comments
Parasitoidic eggs, not just parasitic.
Ahhh! Parasitic eggs! I knew some wasps did this, but these eggs looks so benign. Anyone know which caterpillar this is? (Hey, I just take the pictures!) Thanks everyone!
And there is another one here: http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/106...
Beautiful caterpillar! It looks like it has feathers. Sad it was so badly parasited.
you can find other example of parasited caterpillar here http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/642...
Hi Allen. This caterpillar is parasited by Braconid or Ichneumonid parasitoid wasps (yellow cocoons)