Caterpillar Horror Movie

We are not having too much success with our caterpillar project. This little chap suddenly appeared to have laid eggs - I could even see little wiggly grubs crawling out of them. I couldn't understand what was going on and found myself baffled, googling 'do caterpillars lay eggs??' knowing full well that they didn't! Well, it turns out that the poor caterpillar had been attacked by a particular type of wasp which had laid eggs inside it. These parasites had then hatched out and would eventually destroy their host caterpillar..!?!

I liberated all concerned into our garden as I didn't want the wasp grubs to attack the pupa already in the jar. Fascinating - but a bit stomach-churning too!