Today as we were out picking thistle leaves, our Painted Lady caterpillar (Vanessa cardui) was killed by a European Paper Wasp (Polistes dominula)! Ever since the European Paper Wasp (Polistes dominula) population exploded sometime last month when summer started, we have been having a huge problem with them killing our insects. This is not the first post that we have made about them (see here). They actively search all suspect host plants from sun up to sun down and any living arthropod on the plants they search are doomed, large or small, unless they have some sort of defense such as a nest. The wasps seem to rely heavily on smell and are incredibly adept at discerning which plants tend to have defenseless caterpillars (milkweed [Asclepias] and fennel [Foeniculum vulgare] are favorites; on another note, they rarely go for trees). They are very clever and will find their way into a rearing sleeve or bag if they are determined to attack what is inside. This year they have decimated our Monarch caterpillars (Danaus plexippus) and Anise Swallowtails (Papilio zelicaon) in rearing sleeves, attacked our Anise Swallowtail butterflies in an ovipositing enclosure, and even injured one of our Mediterranean Katydids (Phaneroptera nana) in a screened up enclosure. With this kind of killing power, they are undoubtedly the number one cause of mortality in caterpillars by predation. And today they found another victim to add to their list: our fifth instar Painted Lady caterpillar (Vanessa cardui) that we had found at Tilden Regional Park on 7/9. The older of the two we had found already pupated on 7/18 but the other one still had another day or so. But when we were picking some Milk Thistle (Silybum marianum) in our backyard for it, we made the bad mistake of leaving the caterpillar out unprotected. During the two minutes we turned our backs to pick, a European Paper Wasp came by and attacked. By the time we saw, the wasp had already bitten a whole in the caterpillar and within seconds, a huge pool of internal fluids were spewing out of the wound. Of course, we got the wasp away to see if it was still saveable but from the looks of it, the damage had already been done and the caterpillar would soon bleed to death. Within a few hours after we took it back in, it died. To conclude, NEVER leave caterpillars (or other insects) unprotected outside if you have wasps roaming around your area, even for a few moments. - Brian
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Timeline 2012–2017
Albany, California This timeline is a series of daily posts recording our observations on and experiences with various insects in Albany California and surrounding areas, from 2012-2017. Since we did not publish this site until 2016, posts before that were constructed retroactively. Starting in August 2017, we moved to Ithaca, New York; posts from there on can be viewed at Timeline 2017-present: Ithaca, New York. Archives (1,011)
August 2017 (49) July 2017 (121) June 2017 (79) May 2017 (77) April 2017 (91) March 2017 (35) February 2017 (12) January 2017 (10) December 2016 (12) November 2016 (26) October 2016 (49) September 2016 (84) August 2016 (94) July 2016 (99) June 2016 (53) May 2016 (21) April 2016 (4) January 2016 (1) August 2015 (3) July 2015 (3) June 2015 (2) June 2014 (3) May 2014 (1) April 2014 (3) March 2014 (3) December 2013 (2) November 2013 (2) October 2013 (5) September 2013 (11) August 2013 (15) July 2013 (9) June 2013 (5) May 2013 (4) April 2013 (3) March 2013 (2) February 2013 (3) January 2013 (2) December 2012 (2) November 2012 (1) October 2012 (2) September 2012 (2) August 2012 (5) July 2012 (1) June 2012 (1) Authors
![]() ![]() Full Species List (Alphabetical by scientific name) Note: - Not every species we encounter is necessarily presented on this site, rather a selection of those that were of particular interest to us and that we felt were worth documenting. - We can't guarantee that all species have been identified accurately, particularly taxa we are not as familiar with. Lepidoptera Actias luna Adelpha californica Agraulis vanillae Allancastria cerisyi Antheraea mylitta Antheraea polyphemus Anthocharis sara Argema mimosae Attacus atlas Battus philenor hirsuta Bombyx mori Caligo atreus Callosamia promethea Coenonympha tullia california Citheronia regalis Cricula trifenestrata Danaus plexippus Eacles imperialis Erynnis tristis Estigmene acrea Eumorpha achemon Eupackardia calleta Furcula cinereoides Heliconius erato Heliconius hecale Heliconius sapho Heliconius sara Hyalophora cecropia Hyalophora columbia Hyalophora euryalus Hylephila phyleus Hyles lineata Junonia coenia Langia zenzeroides formosana Lophocampa maculata Manduca sexta Morpho peleides Nymphalis antiopa Orgyia vetusta Orthosia hibisci quenquefasciata Pachysphinx modesta Papilio cresphontes Papilio eurymedon Papilio glaucus Papilio machaon oregonius Papilio multicaudata Papilio polyxenes asterius Papilio rumiko Papilio rutulus Papilio zelicaon Phyciodes mylitta Phyciodes pulchella Pieris rapae Plejebus acmon Poanes melane Polites sabuleti Polygonia satyrus Pyrgus communis Rothschildia jacobaeae Samia cynthia advena Samia ricini Smerinthus cerisyi Smerinthus ophthalmica Strymon melinus Trichoplusia ni Uresephita reversalis Vanessa annabella Vanessa atalanta Vanessa cardui Unidentified Lepidoptera Hybrids Papilio glaucus × Papilio rutulus Papilio polyxenes asterius × Papilio zelicaon Orthoptera Melanoplus devastator Phaneroptera nana Pristoceuthophilus pacificus Scudderia mexicana Trimerotropis pallidipennis Phasmatodea Carausius morosus Phyllium giganteum Mantodea Mantis religiosa Phyllocrania paradoxa Hymenoptera Apis mellifera Bombus vosnesenskii Brachymeria ovata Linepithema humile Pediobius sp. Polistes dominula Xylocopa varipuncta Unidentified Diptera Lucilia sericata Unidentified Hemiptera Brochymena sp. Leptoglossus sp. Nezara viridula Odonata Argia vivida Libellula croceipennis Coleoptera Coccinella septempunctata Cycloneda polita Diabrotica undecimpunctata Hippodamia convergens Araneae (Class: Arachnida) Araneus diadematus Phidippus johnsoni |