Commander
05-Nov-2006, 04:36 PM
Yesterday whilst I was the SBWR Spice and Herb garden, I noticed a female Grass Demon ovipositing on the leaves of its host plant, Turmeric (Cucurma sp.). It was going from leaf to leaf and depositing one egg on each leaf.
As I moved in to shoot its smooth red egg after it left the scene, I was focusing on the egg when I noticed a fly moving in a few seconds later and promptly poked its ovipositor into the egg, presumably injecting its own egg into the egg of the Grass Demon - even before the caterpillars hatch. It was amazing that just within a few seconds after the butt's egg is laid, it was already parasited. :-( Not sure if this is the same species of parasitic flies which live in the caterpillar (http://b-pals.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2519&)that I shot some time ago at AH.
One of Mother Nature's mechanisms for controlling population of butterflies? Whilst not technically predation, parasitism is another form of certain death that follows the butterflies at each stage of its life cycle. :thinking:
As I moved in to shoot its smooth red egg after it left the scene, I was focusing on the egg when I noticed a fly moving in a few seconds later and promptly poked its ovipositor into the egg, presumably injecting its own egg into the egg of the Grass Demon - even before the caterpillars hatch. It was amazing that just within a few seconds after the butt's egg is laid, it was already parasited. :-( Not sure if this is the same species of parasitic flies which live in the caterpillar (http://b-pals.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2519&)that I shot some time ago at AH.
One of Mother Nature's mechanisms for controlling population of butterflies? Whilst not technically predation, parasitism is another form of certain death that follows the butterflies at each stage of its life cycle. :thinking: