Am not sure what these little guys are. Am thinking Ceraunus Blues but they are different colors so they could be either Western Pygmy Blues? I think they are on huisache aka acacia wrightii. I posted an egg photo last week.
There were lots of ants tending to them too.
None have pupapted yet...so time will tell...
~ Cat
...another caterpillar photo
deffinately one of the Blues
Several pupated yesterday :o)
~ Cat
...and another :o)
~ Cat
...and found out today that these caterpillars have something called 'ant organs' :o)
You can see the white protusions in this photo.
~ Cat
Cat , What are ant organs?
great shots Cat
Not exactly sure what ant organs are...but they are those white tubercle thingies sticking out on the caterpillar. I read briefly about the ants drumming on the back of the caterpillar and the caterpillar excreting some sort of honeydews. Really haven't made the time to fully read up on it...and just ordered a book recommended by Mike Quinn that discusses that but it won't get here for another couple of weeks.
~ Cat
Cool pics! Those cats must be tiny. I've never heard of any caterpillars excreting anything like honeydew BUT in the movie "The Ant Bully" they had a colony of ants that had caterpillars just for that reason. I thought they just made that up for kids instead of using aphids, since aphids are so small. Let us know what you learn!
Cat,
If they have white "rice like" things on their backs then those have been paratisized. (sp?) wasps will lay eggs on them and then they'll hatch out either while the host is still a cat or when they're pupating.
Believe me, Cat knows what parasitized cats look like. This is different. Look at the picture and down at the bottom of the caterpillar (not quite sure which end it is) is a little white "thingy".
I've never seen anything like it. I wonder if it's just in certain caterpillars, or in every one but you just have to catch an ant drumming on it?! lol You've got to let us know when you find out!
Cat my book doesn't go into detail about it but says " pay close attention to the 7th abdominal segment from which a middorsal yellowish honey or nectar gland will be, on occassion, everted for the caterpillar's attentive retinue. Additionally, blues have eversible "tentacular" glands on the AB- when exposed nearby ants become animated and attentive. These glands are commonly displayed when the larva is moving to a new location and signal that the nectar organ might be soon available for"milking."
This message was edited Sep 2, 2006 5:48 AM
Hey ya'll...thanks for the postings!!!
Mike Quinn, a Texas entomologist, sent the photos to Jim Brock and our local south Texas NABA chapter. The SoTX Chapter posted them on their website :o)
Click on the 'what's new link' on the left side of the home page:
http://www.naba.org/chapters/nabast/index.html
* * *
* * * Donna...what book is that from? I'd like to read up more about them.
...also noticed when I was reviewing my photos...I'd taken three photos within the same minute and only that one showed the Ant Organs - they don't stay out for long it seems! I never noticed when I was taking the photos...just happened to stumbled on them when I was zooming in on the photos when I downloaded them onto my computer. I did see ants crawling on the various caterpillars and doing what looked like drumming on the cat body but didn't think much of it until I saw the photos...duh!!! I learn new things every day!!!
GOOD NEWS!!! Three of the chrysalids eclosed today!!! Whodathunk a gorgeous little butterfly could come out of something smaller than a grain of rice!!!
Here's a photo of one them perched on my knuckle prior to release :o)
~ Cat
This message was edited Sep 3, 2006 2:47 PM
Here's a photo of a butterfly eclosing this morning :o) You can see one antenna right where the chrysalis is starting to split.
~ Cat
...and another photo showing more of the eclosing butterfly. Sorry, it's a bit blurry...I was in a hurry to click this and set the camera to movie mode to record the new arrival.
~ Cat
wonderful shots Cat. The book is Caterpillars of Eastern North America by David L. Wagner. It is the best, most complete caterpillar book on the market I have found. It pretty well cover cats of all kinds good and bad
Donna....Thank you...I have that book but loaned it out to a friend a couple of months ago. I really must make a point of getting it back soon!
Thanks again...Cat
Cool pics! Love the one with just it's eyes! I always think how weird it must be for them to just suddenly pop out one day and be something different. lol
