frass expulsion

[Liz Day]

 >>A 1st instar monarch caterpillar (< 2 mm)that I have in a petri dish is
 >>doing just that.  It raises the tip of its abdomen (scorpion-like) and
 >>fires the frass away from itself.

 >... in a later growth stage monarch cat, 2nd instar (@
 >6mm), it only elevates the tip of abdomen slightly and expels frass just a
 >few mm away from its body....nothing like the 1st instar's more distant
 >'slinging' expulsion.

Maybe the second instars don't get parasitized?

This is so mysterious.

Liz


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Liz Day
Indianapolis, Indiana, central USA  (40 N, ~86 W)
Home of budgerigar Tweeter and the beautiful pink inchworm (Eupithecia 
miserulata).
USDA zone 5b.  Winters ~20F, summers ~85F.  Formerly temperate deciduous 
forest.
daylight at kiva.net
www.kiva.net/~daylight
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