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Photo#524664
Columbine Duskywing caterpillar - Erynnis

Columbine Duskywing caterpillar - Erynnis
Pelham, Hampshire County, Massachusetts, USA
July 29, 2010
I found this caterpillar in a folded section of a garden columbine leaf on 7/27/2010, and collected it. It eventually spun a cocoon, but then died without pupating. I don't think this is why it died, but at one point I stepped outside to dump the droppings out of the sandwich bag I was keeping it in. I had the caterpillar in my hand and looked away for a split second; when I looked back there was an ichneumonoid perched on it and preparing to insert its ovipositor. I was amazed that the wasp could appear from nowhere so quickly to attack a host caterpillar.

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Columbine Duskywing caterpillar - Erynnis Columbine Duskywing caterpillar - Erynnis Columbine Duskywing caterpillar - Erynnis

Moved
Moved from Columbine Duskwing.
Mike Nelson and Harry Pavulaan have informed me that Wild Indigo Duskywings (Erynnis baptisiae) have also been documented completing their life cycle on columbine. I'm giving the dead caterpillar to Mike for possible DNA barcoding.

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