Caterpillar with Braconid Wasp pupal cases

This is a mass of Braconid Wasp (Braconidae, Hymenoptera) pupal cases on a still-living caterpillar of a Variable Checkerspot (Euphydryas chalcedona) butterfly. I found this under a new leaf of a Southern Bush Monkey Flower (Mimulus aurantiacus var. pubescens, Phrymaceae) shrub. The tiny wasps deposit their eggs through the skin of the caterpillar. The eggs hatch and the larvae develop inside the caterpillar - like the movie Alien. Finally the larvae leave the caterpillar and spin their silk cocoons. The caterpillar is still alive - I could see it moving - but it didn't last long and dropped away by the next day, see this photo. This must be why the caterpillars are so spiky - to keep the wasps away. It might work as I don't find many of these caterpillars that have been "cocooned" like this. (San Marcos Pass, 28 April 2017)

This is my photo for the Macro Mondays group, with the theme of "Crime" - and indeed a crime has been committed here, at least from the point of view of the caterpillar. (I'm sure the wasps see it differently!) The perpetrator is not to be seen, but the pupal cases are indisputable evidence of its work. HMM!

Taken in: United States / California / Santa Barbara (show map)

Taken on: April 28, 2017

Tags:

Braconid Wasp

Parasitic Wasp

Hymenoptera

pupal case

Variable Checkerspot

Euphydryas chalcedona

caterpillar

Southern Bush Monkey Flower

Mimulus aurantiacus var. pubescens

Phrymaceae

San Marcos Pass

Santa Barbara County

California

Macro Mondays

Crime « less

Sets appears in: • All Insects 4 • Wasps and Bees (Hymenoptera) more » • Caterpillars & Cocoons (Lepidoptera) • Eggs, Nests, and Grubs « less

Groups appears in: • Wasps • Caterpillars more » • Insect Photography • INSECT NESTS • MACRO MONDAYS • Parasitic Wasps « less

Camera: Nikon D7100, f/11.0, 1/500 sec, 105mm (=157mm), ISO 280 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Nikon D7100
Aperture:	f/11.0
Exposure Time:	0.002 sec (1/500)
Focal Length:	105mm (35mm equivalent: 157mm)
ISO:	280
Exposure Bias:	-1/3 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Aperture-priority AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Manual
Light Source:	Fine Weather
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Ver.1.01
Show full info

Stats: 2,848 views / 12 comments

go back

close tools panel

Badge creator

Use Flickriver Badge Creator to create a badge linking to your photos, your group or any other Flickriver view.

You can place your badge on your Flickr profile, Blog or Website.

Add to your iGoogle or Netvibes page

Flickriver widget for iGoogle or Netvibes can display almost any Flickriver view - most interesting today, by user, by group, by tag etc. Once added to your personalized homepage, just edit widget settings to select your desired view.

Clickr on one of the buttons below to install:

Embed on your Web site

To embed this view, Copy and Paste the following HTML code:

Black background (preview):

White background (preview):

Firefox and Chrome addons

Adds a 'Flickriver' button to your browser. While viewing any Flickr photos page, click on this button to open the same view on Flickriver.

Install in Firefox
Install in Chrome

Search plugin

Add 'Search on Flickriver' to your browser's search box. Works with Firefox and Internet Explorer. Install search plugin

"View on Flickriver" Greasemonkey script

A Greasemonkey script that adds Flickriver links to various Flickr photo pages - user photos, favorites, pools etc, allowing to quickly open the corresponding Flickriver view.

Also, allows quickly viewing any Flickr photo on black background in large size.

Install "View on Flickriver" script

Bookmarklet

While viewing any Flickr photos page, click on the bookmarklet to open the same view on Flickriver.

To install: drag and drop the following link to your Bookmarks toolbar.
IE users - add the link to your Favorites under the Links folder