Good photos - I believe that's what I had earlier this week that emerged from a Gulf Frit chrysalis. They're tiny. I was glad my container was outside so they weren't flying around inside my house.

I hate those little parasites. Edith Smith has a great web page on Butterfly and Moth Parasitoids.

Here is a link that might be useful: Butterfly and Moth Parasitoids

I'm soooo confused - what kind of parasite looks like a red X in a little square box??? :)

Is this inside the pupa or outside the pupa? Wish we had a picture. Did you look at the website that I posted?

Yuck. Poor thing. :( I had my own parasitized chrysalis a couple of months ago (also a BST), that was sort of getting to look like that. I don't remember if it had brown bands, but it had a couple of soft mushy brown spots, with a white grub-like thing inside. I'm still not sure what it might have been.

Jeanner, I don't understand your question...are you unable to get the pictures posted with my submission?

runmede, Your comments baffle me completely!...and I did check the site you suggested. The site you referred me to was the same one Elisabeth referenced in the earlier post by christie sw mo.

Jeanne;
Are you talking about immature predatory stink bugs, such as the spined soldier bug? When the nymphs are really small, they look very red with a mark. I took a really cool picture of one eating a monarch egg last week and then erased my pictures on my camera by mistake...wah!!!! The picture I linked is one, but they vary depending on the exact species.
-Elisabeth

Here is a link that might be useful: stink bug nymph eats a monarch

Bob,

Why would my question baffle you? I'm asking if this is coming out of the pupae or on the outside of it. Do you understand now? I've been raising butterflies for 17 years, I think I've almost seen every thing. This was the post that I was responding to:

Posted by jeanner SW Ohio - Z6 (My Page) on Thu, Sep 9, 10 at 21:37
I'm soooo confused - what kind of parasite looks like a red X in a little square box??? :)

Sorry I was being a wise a$$ because I couldn't see the pictures and all I saw were red X's in little boxes. But I can see the pictures now and they are fantastic - thanks for sharing those!

And my apologies for causing such a ruckus!

Oopps. Now I understand. I thought you were talking about a parasite, not the pictures.

Mona

Goodness, these are astonishing pictures. I have never seen such a thing, and I must say that I hope that I never do. Ewwwwwwwwww...poor little would-be butterfly, hey? I know... I know..I can hear that "Circle of Life" song rolling in my head as I type!! :o)

"It's the Circle of Life
And it moves us all
Through despair and hope
Through faith and love
Till we find our place
On the path unwinding
In the Circle
The Circle of Life"

LOL, now I am going to have that in my head all day!

Jeanne;
We all need more funnies in our life! I think we are at the end of a busy season and are all a little tired. At least I know I am. We went out and counted butterflies at Mt. St. John's yesterday. We counted over 130 peck's skippers. We probably had well over 200 butterflies. Closer to 300. I got so punchy at the end! The nice thing was seeing at least four sleepy oranges.

Cheers,
Elisabeth

Oh how I had my fill of these buggers last year; it almost made me stop rearing BST's. I'm thrilled to say, knock wood, I haven't had any parasite issues, so far, but then again, I didn't have alot of BST's. Right now I currently have 5 BST cats that I'll be keeping a close eye on once they're bigger. I never got around to adding another layer of screen to my butterfly cage, and I know that'll come back to haunt me.
Fantastic pictures Bob.

We are in drought mode here in my area. We've had zero inches of rain since August 19. Our temps finally dropped out of the 90s. I am trying to water so that it doesn't all evaporate. We are supposed to get some rain tonight and tomorrow. Weather and raising bugs, can drive a person crazy. But, releasing these amazing creatures is worth all the effort.

Amazing pictures.

I've had a zillion parasite problems in my day but I do not remember ever raising a BST cat that had parasites. Guess I've been lucky.

I took my caterpillar show to four 5th grade classes last week. Teacher that arranged for it wanted me to cover the food chain. So I passed around my parasite example containers: polyphemus cocoon, QM and milkweed tiger cats. I think the thing that really surprises the kids is that tiny wasps exist.

KC

I guess BSTs must have various kinds of parasites/parasitoids. The very first year that I raised them (before I got into a routine of bringing them inside as aoon as I saw any BSTs on the plants) I had 4 that had been parasitized. They overwintered and came out the next spring as wasps. They weren't small like the ones in your picture but big like regular wasps and parts of them were reddish brown (I think their legs and maybe something else). I have pictures of them somewhere if only I could find them. I haven't had any problems the past few years with wasps parasitizing BSTs, but I'm vigilant about bringing them in as soon as possible to protect them. Btw, those are very nice pictures even if the subject is one that I don't like. ;-)
Cathy