Mites on caterpillars
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Mites on a White Peacock Caterpillar |
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Tiny little mites covered some of these White Peacock butterfly caterpillars, nearly turning the entire caterpillar brown. The mites didn't seem to affect the caterpillars at all. The caterpillars continued to eat and grow as normal. When the caterpillar hung in a J, preparing for pupation, all the mites left the caterpillar. The chrysalis was perfect and the emerging adult showed no damage. |
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Puzzled, we showed these photos (taken with a macro lens on the camera) to a specialist in Gainesville, with hopes that he could shed some light on these little creatures. Although I had frozen some of these mites, they were eventually lost. How I now wish I had a few specimums preserved. He said the mites were simply scavengers, eating bits of food that the caterpillar had on its body. The reason they left when the caterpillars hung in a J was simple; the caterpillar was no longer eating and thus, food it dropped wasn't sticking to its body. |
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