Posted by hwkgrl |
May 25, 2010 01:55am |
Viewed 1712 times | 1 replies |
Last replied by MariaBBB on May 26, 2010 08:59am
Can caterpillars lay eggs? Caterpillars that have been feeding on nasturtiums in my garden are coming over and laying eggs on the windows. The eggs are yellow and covered with a yellow sticky web.
MariaBBB
May 26, 2010 08:59am
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The only caterpillars which feed commonly on nasturtiums are those of the Large White and Small White ( collectively known as "cabbage whites" ). The yellow "eggs" surrounding the caterpillar are actually the tiny cocoons of a little parasitic wasp called Apanteles glomeratus. The wasp injects its eggs into the caterpillar when it is quite small. The eggs hatch inside the caterpillar, and the wasp grubs eat the caterpillar's flesh. When the grubs are fully grown they eat the caterpillar's vital organs and kill it. They then break out through the caterpillar's skin leaving it to die, surrounded by a mass of between about 20-80 tiny yellow fluffy wasp cocoons. The wasps hatch from the cocoons the next spring, and look for more caterpillars to parasitise. About 80% of Large White caterpillars are killed this way. Every species of butterfly has it's caterpillars parasitised by some kind of wasp or fly.
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