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I'm not sure what it's made of, web or silk? Symmetrical, I have no idea what animal made this structure and for what purpose, shelter or egg sac? I initially thought it was a spider nest but upon researching and observing, it couldn't possible be any spider nest as it is too symmetrical. It could also be some sort of a caterpillar cocoon or nest? After spotting it, I didn't bother checking back or observing any longer so my chances of finding out what it was is gone.
Found underneath a banana leaf from my garden.
John B. had a really interesting theory that this could be a species of Banana skipper larvae that had not cut out the banana leaf and for some reason not decided to complete its cocoon. I'll keep this in mind and I'm on the lookout for some of these structures on my banana plants.
Spotted on Dec 10, 2021
Submitted on Jul 30, 2023
4 Comments
John B. I just saw the photos, I really appreciate it and thanks for sharing some information too! Even if its wrong, atleast I learned something new and hey, October is just a few months away. Maybe they'll also appear on my bananas even though they're known to damage the plant but I'm still excited of seeing one..if they'll ever appear.
Hi Francis,
thank you for your reply to my comment. I have been researching a little further, into this interesting topic because what I wrote (in my comment) was based on my memory of something I had looked at some years ago. The Banana Skipper larvae, at least in my area, tend to appear on banana leaves in the months of October and November. Since that is rather a long time to wait, I looked back through some old stuff I have from the years 2014 to 2017 and I found some photos which show that my comment was probably wrong, but if you look at them, you will surely see some similarity to you spotting. Of course, I have no way of sending you my pictures on Project Noah. So, I will send you an email with 6 pics. attached. I hope that's O.K. with you.
John B. Thanks for the suggestion! That's a really interesting guess, I never even knew some skippers actually make those structures on banana leaves. Looking at google photos, it seems that many caterpillars would make nest in a single leaf, I only found one. I'll also keep a lookout for rolled leaf structures on my banana plants and definitely keep this suggestion in mind!
Hi Francis,
Could this possibly be some kind of leaf roller caterpillar which has pupated on the banana leaf having, for some unknown reason, failed to cut a section of leaf to wrap itself? I am thinking of a banana skipper larva. The only way I can think of finding out is to look for a rolled up section of leaf and gently unroll it. If you see something similar to your photos inside, then you will have the answer. Your spotting is very interesting and I am going to be on the lookout for a banana leaf-roller to open it and have a look.