I found these : On my milkweed plants...I was looking for monarch and queen caterpillars. I didn't handle them too much because I wasn't sure what they were. Then I saw this: which is a pupa, but doesn't really look like a butterfly or moth pupa. It looked like a fly's to me so I did some reading and I might have figured it out. I didn't mention it before, but my milkweed plant had a bit of an aphid issue. Well, it DID, but now not so much. There is a type of fly and their larva that eats aphids called a syrphid fly. I brought the pupa in to try and see what emerged...but my monarch caterpillar ate it. :-|
Oops. The circle of life can be tough. On the up side, I'll bet if you listen really closely, you'll hear your monarch caterpillar saying ". . . thank you very much . . . burp
I think I DID hear him say that! Well, I should have known better, I just thought if I gave him enough leaves he'd leave the pupa alone. I had it up near the top of the cage, he had to really go out of his way to get it!
You really have a kind heart, and inquisitive nature to bring in a fly to see it hatch! great pictures HB!
Welllll, maybe an inquistive nature, but I don't know about a kind heart since I basically got him eaten. :-D I guess I was really hoping for some kind of small butterfly...... This pupa looks like the one I have....had... http://mint.ippc.orst.edu/syrphid.htm They sound like they might be even more effective than ladybugs! http://woodypest.ifas.ufl.edu/244.htm http://virtual.clemson.edu/groups/hort/ ... syrlrv.php
