strange egg structure, (no ID)

Adrian · Post by **Adrian** » Sun Mar 04, 2007 3:40 am

i found this strange looking egg structure yesterday

no idea what it is from

nature sure dose make some interesting things.

Ken Ramos · Post by **Ken Ramos** » Sun Mar 04, 2007 4:59 am

Never seen one like this before. I Googled around a bit but found no close matches. Interesting photograph.

MacroLuv · Post by **MacroLuv** » Sun Mar 04, 2007 6:55 am

It looks like a trap or kiddle.

beetleman · Post by **beetleman** » Sun Mar 04, 2007 7:05 am

What the heck is that

. Looks like it is either made of hair or window screening. You do not have a microscope do you Adrian? Warrents a closer look for sure. If it hasn`t hatched yet, you could see what developes.

Bruce Williams · Post by **Bruce Williams** » Sun Mar 04, 2007 7:31 am

Now that sure scores a perfect 10 in the INTRIGUE stakes!

"I have every confidence that one of my fellow forum members...."

Bruce

rjlittlefield · Post by **rjlittlefield** » Sun Mar 04, 2007 9:59 am

Well now, this is an interesting capture! Nice job, Adrian!

I'd guess that we're looking at the pupa of a parasitic fly, lying inside the barely started cocoon of some caterpillar that had very long guard hairs.

The long fibers forming the outer structure would be the guard hairs, which caterpillars like tussock moths often shed first and incorporate into the outer part of their cocoon. The remains of the caterpillar would be the dried-up corpse at bottom center, and the shiny brown capsule would be the puparium of something like a Tachinid fly.

(Google search on any of these terms will give you more info than you ever wanted to know.)

The geometric perfection of that outer structure is fascinating. The ones I usually see are rather more random!

--Rik

acerola · Post by **acerola** » Sun Mar 04, 2007 3:04 pm

Amazing

Gordon C. Snelling · Post by **Gordon C. Snelling** » Sun Mar 04, 2007 5:47 pm

I would say Rik hit it dead on. interesting shot.

beetleman · Post by **beetleman** » Sun Mar 04, 2007 7:02 pm

Way to go Rik.

Adrian · Post by **Adrian** » Sun Mar 04, 2007 10:04 pm

thank you all

So rik, the Tachinid fly must have laid its eggs on the caterpillar's egg and when the maggots hatched they went for the caterpillar?

could it be this type of caterpillar? i allso found this in the area

i found out why the color was going off on jpeg conversion, i was saving them in proRGB color space, changed it back to adobeRGB

doug my microscopes back at home, still here in singapore, i will post more photos when i get back later tonight for a closer look.

gonna go get some lunch and go into the wilderness.

MacroLuv · Post by **MacroLuv** » Sun Mar 04, 2007 10:28 pm

Well, this one is pretty hairy.

rjlittlefield · Post by **rjlittlefield** » Sun Mar 04, 2007 10:53 pm

Adrian wrote:the Tachinid fly must have laid its eggs on the caterpillar's egg and when the maggots hatched they went for the caterpillar?

The Tachinids that I know lay their eggs directly on a half-grown caterpillar, as in this description. But according to this reference, there are quite a few other possibilities.

could it be this type of caterpillar?

Could be. The hairs look about right for color gradation. I can't tell about size between the two pictures.

Pretty caterpillar!

--Rik

crotermund · Post by **crotermund** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 8:03 am

Definitely intriquing, Adrian. Nice find.

Adrian · Post by **Adrian** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 9:33 am

thanks crotermund

heres a blow up. sure dose look like that type of caterpillers carcass, seems as if its still fresh too, actually maybe its just wet.

Bruce Williams wrote:"I have every confidence that one of my fellow forum members...."

eh?