I'm wondering about the cause of death here. I wish I had cut it open and investigated a little more. The large, irregular hole rules out parasitoid wasps, I think. I'm wondering if this might have been predated from the outside, but maybe people who have raised a lot of caterpillars can add some insight. I know I've had tachinids emerge from a chrysalis before, but I can't quite remember what that looked like--I think it just sort of shriveled up.
Date not included in the field so it doesn't give a false data point. October 17, 2007