A month ago, I collected a few
thimbleberry galls, brought them home, and split one apart to look at the larvae hidden inside. (Story,
here.) I stashed them afterwards in a plastic container and set them aside in a cool spot.
This week, I opened the container. And several tiny wasps have burrowed their way out.
 |
| The larvae as they were a month ago. |
 |
| Another one of the galls, this week, with exit holes. |
 |
| And one of the newly-emerged wasps, Diastrophus kincaidii. About 2.5 mm long. |
 |
| Another one, bent over, showing off her wings. |
 |
| Wasp # 3. Wasps have that tiny waist; it seems strange that it can support the weight of the heavy abdomen. |
I just checked again. There were three galls, all on the small side. And now there are a dozen new wasps, freshly emerged. I left the lid off; I don't know where they'll go, since I have no thimbleberry canes nearby. Maybe they'll find an alternate host in the raspberries.
Great stuff. I love raising things to aduthood; the development process can be facinating to document. I currently have a large beetle larva that seems in no hurry to pupate.
ReplyDeleteI've got a couple of larvae, unidentified, too. They're stashed outside in a corner about the same micro-climate as where I found them. The days are warming up now, so I've brought them inside to my cool corner.
DeleteWe have thimbleberries all over the logging roads here. My mason bees are starting to emerge. I saw one yesterday resting outside of his hole before he flew off. My hotels are all ready to go for the females to emerge. - Margy
ReplyDelete