
Campopleginae cocoon and empty caterpillar skin
Parasitic wasps in the subfamily Campopleginae will inject an egg into a caterpillar and the resulting larva will eat the caterpillar alive from the inside. Once the caterpillar has died and the wasp larva has eaten all usable intestines the larva will leave the caterpillar "skin" and spin a cocoon nearby, usually suspended from a thread of silk. This one was more or less entangled in a lot of silk, but I have seen the same type of cocoon suspended freely before also.
The shape and patterns on the cocoon should allow identification at least to genus level, sometimes maybe even to species, but I don't have the necessary experience. Will keep this one to see what comes out ...
Another shot of the same scene here:
For comparison, here is another cocoon uploaded by sureshachar some time ago:
No species identified
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