Posts Tagged: jewel wasps

Parasitoid Palooza! Or What Ate My Caterpillar or Chrysalis

So you're trying to rear monarch butterflies. You notice an egg on your milkweed plant, and watch its life cycle from egg to caterpillar to chrysalis.  Aha, you think, soon I'll be able to see an adult monarch eclose from that chrysalis. Not so...

This monarch chrysalis is filled with tachinid fly larvae, about to emerge. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

This monarch chrysalis is filled with tachinid fly larvae, about to emerge. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Tachinid fly larva emerges from a monarch chrysalis. It will turn brown, harden, and become a pupa--and eventually, an adult tachinid fly. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Tachinid fly larva emerges from a monarch chrysalis. It will turn brown, harden, and become a pupa--and eventually, an adult tachinid fly. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Read more