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Charops sp.
A small hanging, painted bead, about 1 cm in length and suspended by a silk thread from the end of a pine needle which had fallen into a bush. I have found 3 of these in the last few days, all hanging from the end of a leaf and all with a long silk thread hanging below the pupa. This is the pupa of an Ichneumonid Wasp, probably a species of Charops, maybe C. annulipes.
Semi-urban garden, San Cristobal de Las Casas, 2,200 meters.
Update! The wasp emerged on 13 February 2015. It is a male. See pictures 4 and 5. Reference for adult wasp: (http://bugguide.net/node/view/559196). The emergence hole is visible on the pupal case, the wasp emerged head down from the bottom of the hanging cocoon.
5 Comments
Thank you Sukanya, and yes! it was exhausted! Good observation!
The last photo is simply great...but the wasp looks exhausted!
Thank you Sigg, it is such a cool little pupa and I was so happy the wasp emerged!
Interesting spotting. Had I seen the cocoon, I wouldn't have known what it was.
Update! The wasp emerged on 13 January 2015. It is a male. See pictures 4 and 5. Reference for adult wasp: (http://bugguide.net/node/view/559196).