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Insects of the day

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  • FlyDragonFlyDragon Posts: 834
    pansyface said:
    How bizarre that it’s got the job of wrapping them up and protecting them.🙁
    https://www.wired.com/2014/10/absurd-creature-week-glyptapanteles-wasp-caterpillar-bodyguard/
  • Dave HumbyDave Humby Posts: 1,145
    A first for us. We have a very active bumble bee nest in railways sleepers that act as a retaining wall for a bank. Dudley the rescue is a bit obsessed with trying to catch them! 
  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
    pansyface said:
    Well, I never knew that parasitic wasps led such exciting lives. Quite an eye opener.
    Wait until you find out about the wasps that parasitise the parasitic wasps. Literally laying eggs inside the eggs that are laid inside the caterpillar.
    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    uuugghhh  🤢
  • katiem111katiem111 Posts: 36
    @pansyface two years ago we had dozens of cabbage white butterflies emerging from the nasturtiums.  Last year, they all seem to have been parasited by wasps.  It was horrible to see.  Hoping the cabbage i set this year provide a better breeding ground.
  • FlyDragonFlyDragon Posts: 834
    Red in tooth and claw indeed!  

    Fascinating though. 
  • mikeymustardmikeymustard Posts: 495
    Is there a wasp that parasitises the hyperparasitic wasp?
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    Any ideas on this lady? Looks like something from Men in Black II.
    Some kind of hawk moth caterpillar?



  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
    edited July 2020
    Yikes. Eyed Hawkmoths can have a blue 'tail' like that but if it is then it's very unwell. Where did you find it?
    Edit: Maybe a lime hawkmoth?
    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
    Maybe it's a type of warning colour? Try and look toxic so you don't get eaten while getting ready to pupate.
    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
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