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Another amazing event- the generous catterpillar

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  • #16
    Melwel - LOL.

    Indeed ! but seeing as I planted the cabbage as sacrificail bait to the herds of slugs (an attempt to slow them down before they get to my peas and other stuff), Im happy to let it become my experimental playground.

    I will keep you informed - I cant wait to see the babies - I do hope they arnt slithery!

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    • #17
      Originally posted by Westforester View Post
      I will keep you informed - I cant wait to see the babies - I do hope they arnt slithery!
      Haven't a clue what they are but they do not look like caterpillar (butterfly) eggs which would normally be laid en-bloc (in a regular formation) on the underside of the leaf. Fascinating!

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      • #18
        Could be the cocoons of a parasitic wasp. Stick a fine net bag over the leaf and let us know what emerges.
        Gardening requires a lot of water - most of it in the form of perspiration. Lou Erickson, critic and poet

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        • #19
          Cabbage White caterpillars are attacked by the parasitic wasp Cotesia glomerata.
          Female wasps "sting" small caterpillars to lay eggs inside it. Numerous wasp larvae (16-52) develop within each caterpillar. The caterpillar continues its own development and growth, and actually eats more of your cabbage than an unaffected caterpillar, until the wasp larvae emerge from its body to spin their cocoons in a group. The mass of yellowy-orange cocoons is often mistaken for insect eggs. The caterpillar then dies.

          I'm sure I already mentioned it ...

          * goes off to sulk in a corner
          Last edited by Two_Sheds; 17-07-2009, 02:00 PM.
          All gardeners know better than other gardeners." -- Chinese Proverb.

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