Basket pupa

Identification - arctiidae sp.

I blipped this basket eight months ago, at the time, I had no idea what was going on. My guess was that it was a caterpillar pupa that had been entombed by a wasp. Well, I was half right. But, I had collected enough information and photographic evidence that goes beyond what I found in my research.

The basket was in fact constructed by the caterpillar itself, to protect it while in its larval stage. The basket is not made from collected material, but from the caterpillar's own body hairs, glued together with silk.

What I discovered from my photos is that the basket is constructed as a semi-spherical dome and a flat base, completely covered in silk, giving it a 'translucent, hardened glue' look, as I described in my original blip text.

The next bit is theory - the caterpillar attaches lines of silk to the basket frame. As the silken layer dries, it shrinks and the lower flat base is pulled up into a dome and the pupa is suspended in mid air by its silk threads. All kind of like a 'ship in a bottle.

This would make an awesome time lapse video.

DAve