Hummingbird and Butterfly Gardening: Daily Butterfly Pix, #102, 1 by lepfarmer

lepfarmer wrote:
Found this Tersa Sphinx moth caterpillar that has been attacked by a Braconid wasp. The wasp lays eggs just under the caterpillars skin and the wasp larvae then feed on nonessential tissue. Once grown, they burrow out of the caterpillar (which is still alive, but not for long) and make these little white cocoons. In a few days, a whole new batch of Braconid wasps will be on the wing. The caterpillar will be dead by that time.

Dale Clark
Dallas County Lepidopterists' Society
http://www.dallasbutterflies.com