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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Butterflies and Moths (Lepidoptera) » Butterflies (excluding skippers) (Papilionoidea) » Blues, Coppers, Hairstreaks, Harvesters (Lycaenidae) » Harvesters (Miletinae) » Feniseca » Harvester (Feniseca tarquinius)
Photo#38984
Harvester caterpillar - Feniseca tarquinius
Copyright © 2003 tom murray

Harvester caterpillar - Feniseca tarquinius
Wayland, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA
September 13, 2003
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Contributed by tom murray on 9 December, 2005 - 11:46am

Tom has the first and second
shots of the larva mowing through the wooly aphids. Great work! Does the ant tend the larva or the aphids?
… john and jane balaban, 9 December, 2005 - 1:06pm login or register to post comments

 
Larva, aphids, and ants
I'm going back through some of my files, finding a few more to post. My understanding is the ant is tending the aphids, because most of the time the caterpillar is hidden under the aphids, eating from below. And I've seen plenty of these wooly aphids being tended by ants, without a caterpillar in sight.
Alder is the only plant we find these on, here in Massachusetts.
… tom murray, 9 December, 2005 - 2:31pm login or register to post comments

 
Woolly Alder aphids
Apparently these aphids complete their life cycle on maples. Between that and the carnivorous caterpillars and the ants it is quite a story.
… Beatriz Moisset, 9 December, 2007 - 10:25am login or register to post comments

 
Interesting biology
I never knew they needed the silver maples in addition to the alder. Thanks for sharing that info.
… tom murray, 9 December, 2007 - 8:27pm login or register to post comments

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