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Conura, Chalcididae
I'd really like an ID for this pupa (Brassolis sp.). I found 10 of these browns pupae, all were parasitized. I caught one and brought to my house. This happened on Thursday. On Friday morning, I woke up with a lot of tiny yellow wasps in the glass of my bedroom window. They had just emerged from the pupa and was drying its wings. I opened the window and flew into the yard. They are so small and adorable, I could still see some out there, drying his wings, and photographed one in my hand. Sorry, pupa, I'm happy to see this. Life, sometimes, is magic, depends on how you look at things.
Spotted on Jan 4, 2014
Submitted on Jan 4, 2014
9 Comments
Thanks, Lauren, I'll look for more pupae. it is strange that there are so many pupae and I have not seen a caterpillar or butterfly which may belong to this pupa.
http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/384...
I had sooo wanted to see the sphinx moth of this caterpillar emerge and all I got to my shock were a hoard of Tachinid flies!
Ha ha ha Sckel, I agree! The little buggers deliberately wait for us to go to sleep! Hopefully 1 or 2 of your beautiful pupae will still emerge.
John La Salle, Thank you for your comment. I saw 3 other wasp species of this genus, with about 4 or 5 mm; difficult to photograph. I'm curious to know what kind of butterfly emerges from the pupa; I found several cocoons with a small hole. This was the one that was still intact. These tiny wasps are powerful and those poor butterflies have had a lot of headaches because of these wasps. I can't resist when I see a pupa in the woods and collect it for my backyard. I like to follow the proceedings.
Thanks, Suz, some must die so that others may exist for a time. Does not work otherwise.
Thanks, Lauren. Things do not happen like I wanted. I wanted to connect my camera and film the moment when the wasps leave the pupa, but it happened overnight. I had to open the window immediately to the wasps come out, before my mother saw and had a heart attack. Haha. Was the same thing with the eggs of grasshopper that I was watching for weeks, all babies were born at night when I was sleeping, and I could not shoot. Maybe one day I can, everything counts as experience. :)
Wonderful spotting Sckel!
Yes, a sad end for the pupa ... but what an interesting experience.
Hi Sckel
Sorry I can't help you with the pupa - but the beautiful little wasp is in the genus Conura (Chalcididae). This is a large and very difficult genus in the New World - so species identifications will not be trivial. I agree with you - I generally collect pupae in the hopes that there will be a parasitoid inside!
Thank you, Cindy. I will not give up this ID pupa; nobody can stop me.
What an awesome looking wasp! I hope you get an ID on the pupa.