Today, I said I would get to some of the residents of Curry Foster Home. So here we go!
This was the home since October 29, 2022 for the Oak-slug Moth. The yellowish-brown was its exuvia.
Next a view of its escape hatch, the operculum. The cat used the leaf litter for its resting place over the winter.
Oh my was it ever a beauty!
The Oak-Slug Moth (Euclea incisa) looked pretty from any angle. Check an older post, Slug Moth, to view a movie on the cat.
Second up. The moth that used this style of pupa was the Dogbane Saucrobotys (Saucrobotys futilalis) as seen in my post, Second Stop. Look carefully at the top of the brown pupa case and you can see the escape hatch.
In fact, no moth this time! A nice neat brown package and you never know what will pop out from a case like the one above. This was a Parasitic Fly (Tachinidae) or simply called a Tachinid Fly.
In the Diptera order, they have a part called a haltere. So this is what evolution left behind for the second set of wings. The haltere acts as a type of gyroscope.
However, in this case the haltere is covered up by a flap called a calypter. I removed the wing to get a better look. It was dead, so certainly no pain.
Also the Tachinid Flies have a spur on their tibia. Moreover, try seeing that while its moving. LOL This kept me busy the whole morning looking under the scope and pouring through my books. So you may understand, why I needed to get outside yesterday afternoon. 😉
Time to check on the residents at the Curry Foster Home this morning. A pupa of the Brother (Raphia frater) can not be removed from the jar. I certainly would not want to damage it. Notice the exuvia (light brown) left behind outside the pupal case. The cat was in the post, Oh Brother was it fun.
The White-streaked Prominent (Ianassa lignicolor) had splattered itself against the jar. However, it was not stuck. So the post, Rainbow Meow has a photo of the cat.
So I do have more residents, but the above ones are a few of the photos I took today. However, I have one more that popped out this morning! Perhaps you remember the post, Yucca larva?
For the most part, the larvae have survived. However this particular one looks to have be parasitized by evidence of the black bumps. Of course, it will be fun to see what comes out. 🙂
While checking the jars, this little beauty had arrived on the scene. There are still three green larvae lying at the bottom of the jar. Furthermore, I guess I was surprised that they actually could develop outside of the yucca stalk.
Of course, I had to chilled it to get these two photos. So the best I could do at this point for ID was Yucca Moths (Prodoxidae) Sooner or later, or not its identity may be found. 🙂
What a nice lesson. Love the oak slug moth. Thanks.
Thanks!😊
Wow, what a fantastic post! Thanks!
The Caterpillar / David Wagner article is a must read – so glad you posted it.
Glad you liked it too!
So fun to see yucca moth 💙 oak slug great too!!