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An Epic Battle for the Ages!!! (not for the faint of heart)

Discussion in 'Pets and Wildlife' started by rico, Jul 5, 2014.

  1. Jul 5, 2014 #1
    rico

    rico Active Member

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    And there I was, Just wandering around on the deck... Then, CRASH!!! Or well plop, a wasp, and a caterpillar, fell down in front of me. RRRRRIP!!! The wasp tore the caterpillar in half, the guts came pouring out! The wasp chewed off a piece of the caterpillar. The caterpillar was finished, But the wasp still had to get away with its cargo...
    caterpillar.jpg The caterpillar... A green mess!
    We catch up to our intrepid explorer, struggling to get off the ground. After wandering around for a while. It climbs up the side of a table...
    mother wasp.jpg The fearless wasp. Determined to get home...
    But what is this! The wasp can't get lift off! Is it hurt?
    caterpillar 2.jpg The caterpillar, still the same.
    We check back on the poor caterpillar. The wasp has really given it a beating...
    The wasp looks dazed. Hopping around, it seems as though it got hurt in the scuffle! I grab a piece of wood, and lift the wasp up to a tree. It climbs up. Higher, higher, higher. It's now out of sight. What will happen to the wasp? What will happen to the poor, maimed caterpillar? I'm afraid we may never know...
    Hope you enjoyed my story. Thanks for looking.
    -rico
     
    katrina likes this.
  2. Jul 5, 2014 #2
    KellyW

    KellyW Orchid wonk Staff Member Supporting Member

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    Good story, Rico. Many wasps do parasitize caterpillars. They capture the caterpillar, paralyze them with a sting and then carry them (in flight) to a burrow. Once in the burrow an egg or multiple eggs will be laid on (or in) the caterpillar. The caterpillar then becomes a food source for the developing wasp larvae. I suspect what happened in your case is: the wasp was flying the caterpillar to a burrow but was intercepted by a bird. The bird damaged the wasp and the caterpillar but dropped them when it realized it was a wasp. The rest of the story was told nicely by you.

    I appreciate you assisting the wasp out of harms way. Many people would have just stepped on it.
     
  3. Jul 6, 2014 #3
    Marni

    Marni Well-Known Member Staff Member Supporting Member

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    A very nice story. Thanks.
     
  4. Jul 6, 2014 #4
    rico

    rico Active Member

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    Thanks Kelly, and Marni. Thank you Kelly for clearing up about where the caterpillar, and wasp probably came from. I had originally planned to put "mother wasp" in the story, but my mom said we didn't have enough proof to make that assumption. I do remember seeing a nature video of wasps building mud nests on sticks for their grubs, and then going hunting. Oh, and I usually (if told) save bugs from my mom's feet. The usual are spiders, house centipedes, ants, and occasional flies. Never before had I saved a wasp, I usually never see them.
     
    Last edited: Jul 6, 2014
  5. Jul 10, 2014 #5
    Dave The Scientist

    Dave The Scientist Active Member

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    Parasitoid Wasps ( the scientific term for these) are really neat. There are hundreds of species of them around the world with quite a number of different hosts.