parasitized caterpillar - Cucullia intermedia

Worth mentioning here

Parasitic wasp that emerged from the cocoon

From what I have seen most of these wasps that parasitize caterpillars are found in groups and not alone as this one. Interesting.

… Beatriz Moisset, 15 March, 2010 - 3:28pm

Maybe there were others

But after I saw this one wasp and photographed it, I released the caterpillar since it was still alive.

… tom murray, 15 March, 2010 - 10:14pm

Moved

Moved from Butterflies and Moths.
Thanks John & Jane. Everything looks right, except for the head pattern, which might just mean this was a third instar instead of the penultimate that looks like this, with a black head. Wagner says the mature caterpillars run from August through October.

… tom murray, 7 February, 2010 - 4:09pm

One thought is Cucullia intermedia

See

but we don't know if they have those colors on the head in any stage.

… john and jane balaban, 7 February, 2010 - 3:45pm

Ignore the color

I've seen lots of cases where a dying parasitized caterpillar turns an unnatural red or brown color. The brown part could have once been a much lighter color- or even green.

… Chuck Entz, 25 July, 2009 - 10:31pm

Still no match

I went through all the pictures in Wagner, and didn't see any cats with this stripe pattern.

… tom murray, 26 July, 2009 - 4:17pm