Empty Aphid

[Gav.]

Hi all,

I found an Aphid .. well the body/shell of... could this be a parasitic wasp that's done this? Dosen't appear fungus like.

First image with the 25mm 2.5-5x Loawa macro lens, need to rig up some lighting for it now.
Shot handheld at 5x zoom, no crop and no edit as I'm on tablet, just wanted to share/ask.

Thanks for looking


20220505170211_IMG_9429-01 by Gavin Wickham, on Flickr

 

[scoober]

Good find Gav well done

 

[Gav.]

Good find Gav well done

Thanks les

 

[Cobra]

Great detail Gav
I'm betting its a shed skin, not a dead one though.

Aphids moult four times before reaching adulthood.

 

[Paul Iddon]

It's the remains of an aphid, it's body attached to a podium created by a braconid wasp. This tiny parasitic wasp finds a target host and deposits an egg inside it. This egg will be dormant until the host is big enough for the larva to hatch and then the wasp larva feeds on the insides of said host.

Paul.

 

[Cobra]

It's the remains of an aphid, it's body attached to a podium created by a braconid wasp. This tiny parasitic wasp finds a target host and deposits an egg inside it. This egg will be dormant until the host is big enough for the larva to hatch and then the wasp larva feeds on the insides of said host.

Paul.

Every day's a school day

 

[Paul Iddon]

Every day's a school day

I have a couple of the same posted somewhere - I copied and pasted what I wrote in my description, lol...

Paul.

 

[Gav.]

@Cobra & @Paul Iddon

Thank you both, I did think shed skin until I got down and noticed the cocoon type webbing underneth, wasp makes sense, never knew they were so small here.

Cheers
Gav

 

[davholla]

It's the remains of an aphid, it's body attached to a podium created by a braconid wasp. This tiny parasitic wasp finds a target host and deposits an egg inside it. This egg will be dormant until the host is big enough for the larva to hatch and then the wasp larva feeds on the insides of said host.

Paul.

+1

This is an amazing book about wasps I think I read it twice last year

Wasps

The ultimate visual journey into the beautiful and complex world of wasps

press.princeton.edu

 

[Cobra]

I did think shed skin until I got down and noticed the cocoon type webbing underneth,

I agree, I should have taken more notice of that.

 

[Gav.]

I agree, I should have taken more notice of that.

Sorry if that came across like I was being an a**e, I typed that while waking up on the way to work

I was half expecting to be told they 'glue' the old skins down so they can pull themselves out easier

 

[Cobra]

Sorry if that came across like I was being an a**e,

Not at all Gav, I never took it that way, I was admitting to being a bit of a donut

 

[Gav.]

+1

This is an amazing book about wasps I think I read it twice last year

Wasps

The ultimate visual journey into the beautiful and complex world of wasps

press.princeton.edu

Thanks may look into that

 

[Gav.]

Not at all Gav, I never took it that way, I was admitting to being a bit of a donut

thanks... I always worry too much how my words are read ... don't mention Donuts it's Friday lunch time and I don't have any

 

[K9Kirk]

Interesting shot.

 

[alfbranch]

Nice
I have shot the same and similiar before

 

[Gav.]

Interesting shot.

Thanks Kirk

Nice
I have shot the same and similiar before

Thanks Alf