I found this larva feeding on coffee plants in Colombia which looks like Trichoplusia ni. The larva was parasitized by a Polyembryonic endoparasitoid and is full of pupae ( about 3000 individuals). An extreme case of parasitism in insects.
Gary Steck, Division of Plant Industry and Consumerism, State of Florida, Gainesville FL USA. There has been a name change recently, so look up their website. I have been in coffee plantations with Dr. Steck.
I guess, the best would be rearing the larvae, or other similar, to get adult(s).
Sincerely,
Jean-Michel.
Best to rear them. However, P. includens has darker thoracic legs. Your picture does not. It appears that your image is T. ni.
Regards,
Fikru
Can’t you get few more from the same field to rear?
this picture is not sufficient
Hi David:
Do you mean that the name Trichoplusia ni has been changed recently ? Trichoplusia ni is still a valid name. This species has 140 hostplant records worldwide. Is a polyphagous species.
Regards
Luis
Thank you all for the answers:
I am trying to get more larvae to obtain adults but it is very difficult to get healthy larvae from the field, since all are parasitized possibly by wasps of the genus Copidosoma sp. (Encyrtidae) like in the picture. That is the reason why I asked help for ID.
Best regards
Luis Miguel
Gary J. Steck
Taxonomic Entomologist
Curator of Diptera and Minor Orders
Phone: 352-372-3505 x 188
Fax: 352-334-0737
s-mail: PO Box 147100, Gainesville, FL 32614-7100
e-mail: [email protected]
PhD: University of Texas
NAme change of the laboratory. Steck will have a reference for these leps.larvae.
If the larvae are parasitized, at least natural control is very good. Look for eggs instead of larvae and rear them on a semi artificial diet in closed Petri dishes until adult stage. Good luck!
I agree with the suggestion of dr. Carola Meierrose, if you are in urgency or can’t find the eggs even, you can try dna sequencing (preferable mitochondrion) you compare it with a well identified museum specimen
Thank you Carola and Farhanullah:
Copidosoma truncatellum is an egg parasitoid of Trichoplusia ni. This polyembryonic endo parasitoid emerges from the larvae of T. ni, so looking for eggs to rear larva is not going to help much. Perhaps someone who has reared T. ni must know which species is.
The photo on the right is rare and amazing,.Try to get the adults of the parasitoids to be sure of the ID, the following article and link may help.
http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/veg/leaf/cabbage_looper.htm
Article Larval parasitoids of the Cabbage Looper, Trichoplusia ni (L...
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