Date: 08/25/2021

Number: 1

Yesterday I separated a 4th instar captive-reared larva from other larvae because it did not appear healthy. By evening it had curled up on a leaf and seemed to be dead. When I checked this morning, it had pupated, unattached, on a leaf that was flat on the floor of the container. The pupa does not look healthy: small, soft, discolored. I used a small binder clip to suspend it, and will observe. I suspect tachinid fly. Because I had collected this as a tiny 1st instar larva, probably less than a day after it had hatched, if there is evidence of tachinid, it will suggest that the parasite can infect the very tiniest of Monarch larvae. Way Station 9418

Elizabeth, CO

Latitude: 39.3 Longitude: -104.6

Observed by: Pamela
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