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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 &quot;skin&quot; 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.<br />
The shape and patterns on the cocoon should allow identification at least to genus level, sometimes maybe even to species, but I don&#039;t have the necessary experience. Will keep this one to see what comes out ...<br />
Another shot of the same scene here:<br />
<figure class="photo"><a href="https://www.jungledragon.com/image/79318/campopleginae_cocoon.html" title="Campopleginae cocoon"><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/media.jungledragon.com/images/3043/79318_thumb.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=05GMT0V3GWVNE7GGM1R2&Expires=1759968010&Signature=JpT9i4gpsAST5UpEGxUYBBHxWHY%3D" width="200" height="134" alt="Campopleginae cocoon Info with this image:<br />
https://www.jungledragon.com/image/79319/campopleginae_cocoon_and_empty_caterpillar_skin.html Campopleginae,Cocoon,Geotagged,Ichneumonidae,Netherlands,Scirtetes,Scirtetes robustus" /></a></figure><br />
For comparison, here is another cocoon uploaded by <a href="https://www.jungledragon.com/user/3172/sureshachar.html" class="user" title="view sureshachar's profile"><img src="https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar.php?gravatar_id=8f3d79051a3f6ccbc4212aae3c4d8959&d=identicon&size=80" alt="sureshachar" /><em>sureshachar</em></a> some time ago:<br />
<figure class="photo"><a href="https://www.jungledragon.com/image/64190/campopleginae_cocoon.html" title="Campopleginae cocoon"><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/media.jungledragon.com/images/3172/64190_thumb.JPG?AWSAccessKeyId=05GMT0V3GWVNE7GGM1R2&Expires=1759968010&Signature=HZ8J6NRlgXsNTgF5qMikU5qWQzg%3D" width="200" height="126" alt="Campopleginae cocoon Coccon of a parasitic wasp of the subfamily Campopleginae Campopleginae,Cocoon,Geotagged,Ichneumonidae" /></a></figure> Campopleginae,Cocoon,Geotagged,Ichneumonidae,Netherlands Click/tap to enlarge Promoted

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:

Campopleginae cocoon Info with this image:<br />
https://www.jungledragon.com/image/79319/campopleginae_cocoon_and_empty_caterpillar_skin.html Campopleginae,Cocoon,Geotagged,Ichneumonidae,Netherlands,Scirtetes,Scirtetes robustus

For comparison, here is another cocoon uploaded by sureshacharsureshachar some time ago:
Campopleginae cocoon Coccon of a parasitic wasp of the subfamily Campopleginae Campopleginae,Cocoon,Geotagged,Ichneumonidae

    comments (2)

  1. Whoa, this is awesome!! Posted 6 years ago
    1. Yes, another one of those awesomely horrible scenarios in nature :o) Should have many more parasitic wasp related images .... but ... time, time ... Posted 6 years ago

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By Pudding4brains

Public Domain
Uploaded May 20, 2019. Captured in E232, 7957 De Wijk, Netherlands.