CLOSED: Bug, worm, or cat?

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mwperry Brandon, MS(Zone 8a) Aug 17, 2008

These are pics I posted on another thread, and there is a bigger single pic on the next thread.

Okay, here's a creature I found on some parsley in my herb garden. The pics are not good enough to clearly see this little white cat or worm(?). It is less than 1 mm in length. Teeny weenie. It exudes an oozey green, foam-like ball that it carries on its lower dorsal area, yet leaving a small portion of the anal area uncovered. It can swoop up its front end if disturbed. Can anyone id it. I don't want to put it in a cage with my cats if it grows up to be a predator. For that matter, it could be a predator right now.

Martha

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kitten0115 La Vergne, TN Aug 17, 2008

If that grows up and takes a cat out I want that picture. I would make sure no bugs are on anything you give your pets just wash it off.

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kitten0115 La Vergne, TN Aug 17, 2008

So, the rounded part is the back of the body?

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claypa West Pottsgrove, PA(Zone 6b) Aug 18, 2008

Martha, can you post those pictures singly? Cropping them might help too. You can post them here, no need to start another thread.

This message was edited Aug 18, 2008 12:02 AM

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mwperry Brandon, MS(Zone 8a) Aug 18, 2008

Sure Claypa. View #1

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mwperry Brandon, MS(Zone 8a) Aug 18, 2008

View #2 Sorry. Wrong image.

This message was edited Aug 17, 2008 11:44 PM

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mwperry Brandon, MS(Zone 8a) Aug 18, 2008

View #2.

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mwperry Brandon, MS(Zone 8a) Aug 18, 2008

View #3. (Don't know why No. 2 won't crop. I'll try again.)

This message was edited Aug 18, 2008 12:01 AM

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mwperry Brandon, MS(Zone 8a) Aug 18, 2008

View #3. No. 2 doesn't seem to want to be cropped. I'll try once again.

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mwperry Brandon, MS(Zone 8a) Aug 18, 2008

View #2 for the last time!

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suunto Sinks Grove, WV Aug 18, 2008

All I can say is "Wow!" and "Great photo!" In some 60 years of looking at insects, I can't recall seeing this before. My best guess here is that you have some external parasites (such as a chalcoid wasp) feeding on a small caterpillar. The caterpillar is too immature for a definitive i.d. (for me, at least), but it definitely is not a swallowtail that one usually finds on parsley and related plants.

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mwperry Brandon, MS(Zone 8a) Aug 18, 2008

Suunto, You are right about the larva -- Euplectrus sp. (Eulophidae). But still, the caterpillar?

http://bugguide.net/node/view/198371/bgimage
http://bugguide.net/node/view/198370/bgimage
http://bugguide.net/node/view/137320/bgimage
http://bugguide.net/node/view/127222/bgimage

Martha

This message was edited Aug 18, 2008 10:51 AM

This message was edited Aug 18, 2008 10:58 AM

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