Moth – Palpita sp.

Location : Palode, Thiruvananthapuram

MY OBSERVATIONS

21-12-2010 – Collected a caterpillar

The edges of the leaf was folded with silk threads coming from the mouth of the caterpillar and the caterpillar was inside the leaf

Eating only the inner part of the leaf

24-12-2010 – Become pupa

26-12-2010 – The pupa was partially covered with small white cocoons. It may be parasite.

28-12-2010 – Emerged in the noon

It were wasps, 27 in number

27-12-2010 -   Collected another caterpillar

There are so many shrubs there and having two or three caterpillar in each plant

04-01-2011 – Become pupa

06-01-2011 – Brown colour of the pupa increased some more and green colour to the position of the wings

07-01-2011 – Emerged in the morning at 7.00

Cream coloured liquid oozes out

From 9.00 AM a hairy portion is pushes out and pulled back. This is continued for hours

Pupa case after emerging

Host Plant : Tabernae montanaI

Koonampala (in Malayalam)

Same caterpillar is seen in Mimusops elengi (Elengi in Malalyalam) plant also.

WASP-4

Location : Palode, Thiruvananthapuram

MY OBSERVATIONS

13-12-2010 – Collected a pupa from a creeper leaf

                         Pupa was inside a silky thread covering

20-12-2010 – Emerged at 1.00 PM. 

                         It is a wasp

                         2 mm in length

WASP-3

Location : Palode, Thiruvananthapuram

MY OBSERVATIONS

 07-12-2010 – Collected a pupa from a creeper

13-12-2010 -  Emerged out

It is a wasp

                           Viewed through microscope

13-12-2010 – Collected another pupa from another creeper

                         Inside a silk thread covering in the leaf

27-12-2010 – Emerged out and it is also a wasp

PRAYING MANTIS-2

MY OBSERVATIONS

Location : Palode, Thiruvananthapuram

23-11-2010 – Observed one ootheca attached in a twig.

White in colour

27-12-2010 – twelve baby mantises emerged

They fighting each other when coming face to face

One to one and half centimeter in length

Abdomen curved upwards

It dispersed very quickly in different plants

17-01-2011 – Dissected the egg case after 21 days and found 4 eggs were not hatched.

The unhatched eggs were in decaying stage.