Disappearing moths????

[Sheena]

Doug Yanega wrote in message ...
>Sheena wrote:
>
>>Is there some kind of parasite that could have eaten away the
>>pupa, leaving only the skin?
>
>Well, having had many of my moth and butterfly pupae "hatch" only Tachinid
>flies, I'd say this is entirely possible. Just yesterday I had three flies
>come out of one Automeris pupa, and a success rate here of one moth for
>every four larvae reared is not unusual. Probably not as common in the
>temperate region, but it must happen, I'm sure. If you want to check for
>parasites, then you can confirm it by examining the pupal skin and see if
>it opened the normal way - along the normal ecdysial lines at the head end
>- and if so, then open it up and check inside for fly puparia (if it did
>not open normally, then it was probably a parasitic wasp). If it's just a
>shriveled larval skin, this is also sometimes due to tachinids which emerge
>after the cocoon is spun but prior to pupation.


I don't know. But I never had any flies hatch.