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Project Noah Nature School
Opidodiphthera eucalypti
Mature larva heavily infested with parasitic eggs from a brachinid fly or wasp.
Feeding on young leaves of eucalyptus sapling.
I noticed a hole in the cocoon some weeks later and dissection revealed the dead owner and the eggs inside. Little evidence appears that the eggs actually hatched and what they are.
Spotted on Dec 8, 2011
Submitted on Dec 8, 2011
20 Comments
Great job with photos. Is impressive the damage that parasites can do.
Thanks for your comment Mayra
Fantastic!!!
Man, I know nature must go on, but that's a terrible way to go.
These eggs seem to infest other species too
http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/888...
but when seasons are good, parasites are actually essential, considering most insects lay hundreds of eggs.
At least we've had a season where so many have made it.
oh dear... poor thing.
Find out what happened to this caterpillar infested with parasite eggs =(
Glad to see you've added another chapter. Good one.
Wowww!
Well the caterpillar (Click to view in photo series) pupated before I got to removing the parasite eggs. The eggs seem to be glued into the pupa wall! (The mesh is an imprint of fly wire - not natural)
Fabulous! I have been hoping for some of these over the last few years - they seem to be rare now. It would be great to put some scale against it to show non-Oz people it's size.
Our emperor gum was once called Antheraea so they're very similar. Good luck. Mantids are hard to feed and too much hard work for me. The adults are more fun than any other insect.
Thanks textless. I'm almost tempted to let nature take its course and see if the eggs can penetrate. However the moth is too spectacular a reward compared with two dozen little tachinid flies.
I've brought in a polyphemus cocoon that blew down & is now superglued to a twig in a jar in my garage so I will (fingers crossed!) raise my first moth next spring! I will also bring in a mantis ootheca I've found & I'm really excited at the prospect of watching the nymphs emerge!
You never get tired of watching them emerge. I also breed local phasmids (walking sticks), Hypolimnas bolina, Papilio ageus, Delias aganippe, D. harpalyce and monarch, of course. Mainly for school demos.
That must be fascinating to observe! Do you raise many species?
I found only this one today in the wild and will attempt to clean them off. I have others captive bred and they never get infested. Last year some pupated with some eggs attached yet the moths emerged successfully. Lucky?
I always feel kind of sad for the caterpillars!
Beautiful caterpillar... sorry to see it playing host to parasites even though they're interesting too.