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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies (Hymenoptera) » "Parasitica" - Parasitoid Wasps » Chalcidoid Wasps (Chalcidoidea) » Eulophidae » Eulophinae » Eulophini » Eulophus
Photo#311041
Caterpillar with a problem - Eulophus
Copyright © 2009 Phil Huntley-Franck

Caterpillar with a problem - Eulophus
Elkton, Douglas County, Oregon, USA
July 27, 2009
Size: approx 23mm
Two days later (July 27), I believe they've begun to pupate. Some seem to be in mid-process.

But again, I have a "What's going on?" question. Each little individual, whether clad in its original pale or new dark coat, has this little batch of "something" attached to it. Any idea what that "something" is?

Images of this individual: tag all
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Contributed by Phil Huntley-Franck on 27 July, 2009 - 5:53pm
Last updated 11 October, 2010 - 6:15pm

Moved
Moved from parasitic Apocrita. Please see my comment here.
… Charley Eiseman, 2 August, 2009 - 7:33am login or register to post comments

Moved
Moved from Cocoons and larvae.
… Domingo Zungri, 28 July, 2009 - 5:12pm login or register to post comments

By the way, Eulophids are Chalcids
not Ichneumonids. We may want to have someone check the placement of these images. Wish we knew more.
… john and jane balaban, 28 July, 2009 - 4:34pm login or register to post comments

 
I'll move these
over to parasitic apocrita for now.
… Domingo Zungri, 28 July, 2009 - 5:12pm login or register to post comments

They are in the guide under Eulophus
here, but we don't see any explanation in a quick search.
… john and jane balaban, 27 July, 2009 - 9:11pm login or register to post comments

 
I know that bee larvae
defecate only once, immediately before pupation. It is an adaptation to keep the food supply from getting fouled, I suppose. This may be something similar--the parasitiods have voided the contents of their bowels only after leaving the confined quarters of their host.
… Domingo Zungri, 27 July, 2009 - 10:13pm login or register to post comments

 
Meconium
You're correct that the yellow piles are all of the larvae's accumulated excrement, voided at once. I've just added this info to the Eulophus guide page.
… Charley Eiseman, 2 August, 2009 - 7:11am login or register to post comments

 
Thanks for the insight; it was my third guess. At first I wondered if they might be eggs, though that made no sense since the adult deposits the eggs on the caterpillar. I also wondered if there could be parasites within the parasites.

:-P)
… Phil Huntley-Franck, 28 July, 2009 - 2:45pm login or register to post comments

 
Something similar
was discussed previously here.
… Domingo Zungri, 28 July, 2009 - 5:09pm login or register to post comments

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