The path to the cafeteria here on my campus has a row of Kodukapuli aka Madras Thorn(Pithecellobium dulce) plants. For the past couple of weeks the plants have been full of various life stages of the Three-spot Grass Yellow. Some branches are covered with chrysalis hanging off them almost as though they were the leaves of the plant, some others with caterpillars that are fast defoliating them and some yet others with eggs or mating individuals or individuals laying eggs. There are also a couple of these plants which have caterpillars on them, that of both the grass yellows and the Black Rajah, a butterfly whose adult I am yet to see on campus. Checking the pupae out for a couple of days over the past week drew my attention to a small wasp that would drop by the pupae on a very regular basis of couple of times a day. I later on identified this wasp to belong to the the genus Brachymeria, a genus of parasitic wasps.
Even more interesting is the behavioural defence strategy adopted by the pupa. The pupae start to wriggle very intensively when the parasitoid wasp lands on it, thus preventing it from depositing its egg in the pupae. Other than this, Kodukapuli is seems popular with several other insects, particularly with spiders here on campus. Next time you come across the plant, check out to see what you find on it!! Azim Premji University Sarjapur, Bengaluru, Karnataka December 2021 P.S. You can check out the same post along with the video of the defensive strategy on my Instagram page(Link to post)
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AuthorHi! I am Mahathi! Welcome to my blog page! Here are blog posts by me on a variety of topics! ArchivesCategories
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