Black oval shaped chrysalis

Moved

Moved from Unidentified Pupae & Cocoons.

The cocoon length is likely shorter than the larva's length, since the larva would be curled within the cocoon, but I agree that cocoon looks pretty similar to this one.

… Charley Eiseman, 2 November, 2021 - 3:41am

Found a similar ichneumon coc

Found a similar ichneumon cocoon nearly as large, the larva itself is over an inch long, so the cocoon would be bigger:

… Hexapoda, 1 November, 2021 - 10:12pm

Moved

Moved from Giant Silkworm and Royal Moths.

Too bad we don't have a picture of the larva, or of what emerged from the cocoon--that would make things a lot clearer!

… Charley Eiseman, 30 August, 2021 - 8:17am

Should be moved, this is the

Should be moved, this is the cocoon of an ichneumon wasp that lived inside the caterpillar, they usually spin dark silk, while saturniids never do.

… Hexapoda, 29 August, 2021 - 11:05pm

Moth cocoon

No ichneumonid makes a cocoon close to this large.

… Charley Eiseman, 30 August, 2021 - 5:47am

It doesn't quite fit here eit

It doesn't quite fit here either, the only saturniids that pupate underground are the Ceratocampines, which don't spin cocoons. This could also be the cocoon of a sphingid, some of which start out large and green, burrow underground, and spin cocoons that are different from typical saturniids. As for the cocoon being too large, I have seen wasp cocoons nearly as big inside large cercropia and polyphemus cocoons, though the wasp cocoon was baggy, many-layered, and had air and fluffy silk between the layers, making it huge compared to the larva inside.

… Hexapoda, 30 August, 2021 - 8:06am

Also, note that the caterpill

Also note that the caterpillar supposedly shed its skin before spinning a cocoon, which normally never happens. Instead, it seems that the wasp consumed the caterpillar, leaving behind a skin, and then spun its own cocoon.

… Hexapoda, 30 August, 2021 - 8:09am

Moved

Moved from ID Request.

… Charley Eiseman, 16 November, 2014 - 11:33am