Hummingbird and Butterfly Gardening: Hostplant Substitute for Monarch/Queen Caterpillars?, 1 by Sheila_FW

Sheila_FW wrote:
We all have something to learn from, and to share with others on DG.

Jasper..... The Tachinid Fly unfortunately are sold to farmers to protect their crops, but they multiply and then attack our caterpillars in our yards. The Monarch isn't the only butterfly they parasitize. But since it only takes 10 days for a Monarch pupa to emerge as a butterfly and the green shows the damage so well; they are a good example.
This was one I had last year I think. The poor cat ate and ate and all the time the larvae of the fly was inside destroying the part of it that is used to form the butterfly. Then when the caterpillar made the chrysalis and can't continue the transformation; the larvae of the fly forms it's pupa and will emerge to infect more cats.
Yes ....the brown things are the pupa that came out of the chrysalis.