monsters on my tomato plants
May 28, 2012 20:14:49 #
at least they eat like it,but these guys are not so lucky.the 1st one got stepped on and the next 2 got parasitic wasp eggs layed on it.
May 28, 2012 21:01:07 #
tinusbum wrote:
at least they eat like it,but these guys are not so lucky.the 1st one got stepped on and the next 2 got parasitic wasp eggs layed on it.
Good catch!
May 28, 2012 23:38:15 #
Most of these are actually cocoons of a parasitic wasp. The wasp eggs were injected into the caterpillar to eat its innards. Eventually the wasp larvae (shiny ones) emerge to pupate (cottony ones), then hatch into adults wasps.
May 29, 2012 07:53:07 #
This is especially interesting because in the image you can see a few wasp larvae actively emerging through the skin. I've seen many with cocoons, but none with emerging larvae.
Great job.
Great job.
May 29, 2012 08:41:21 #
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