Parasitised Sawfly Crash Lands in Driveway (A Little Bit Gruesome)

mostly.nature (59)in #nature • 7 years ago (edited)

My B&W shot of The Fly (Click here to see it) has the largest number of upvotes that I have had in my two weeks here. Thank you all for that.

When I found this Sawfly in my driveway, my first thought was that someone had trodden on the poor thing. A closer look revealed that it must have landed there, dying due to internal parasites. The larvae of these parasites (likely Braconid wasps) were now exiting their host, ready to pupate. It's all part of maintaining the balance.

The sawfly itself seems to be the Zebra sawfly, Pergagrapta turneri. This is quite interesting as it there are no records of this species in the state of Tasmania. If this is the welcome they get then no wonder. _{( All photos, videos, and text on this blog are by @mostly.nature )}

Pergidae Pergagrapta turneri_Parasitised-1.jpg

Pergidae Pergagrapta turneri_Parasitised-2.jpg

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