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What's inside this pupa?

LilnoobsLilnoobs Alpha Queue Registered User regular
So there was a cocoon stuck on a banana at the local supermarket, and then when I went to eat the banana, this thing fell out of the cocoon (the ruler is in centimeters).

gblkgrm0ouri.jpg
uob3da4ey6fv.jpg

From amateur internet sleuthing, it seems to be a moth waiting inside. Personally, I think whatever inside is dead forever, but just in case we got it in a jar. Has anyone found something similar or know what it is? We ran across some websites that say it might be some kind of fly, but flies are gross so I hope not.

Posts

  • bowenbowen How you doin'? Registered User regular
    Your potato camera makes it hard to make out, but it does kind of look like a moth's pupa.

    http://mothphotographersgroup.msstate.edu/species.php?hodges=7417

    Maybe that, I dunno, a clearer picture further zoomed out under better lighting would make it easier to figure out I think.

    not a doctor, not a lawyer, examples I use may not be fully researched so don't take out of context plz, don't @ me
  • The EnderThe Ender Registered User regular
    @Arch signal.

    With Love and Courage
  • ArchArch Neat-o, mosquito! Registered User regular
    Right so this camera picture is pretty bad, as Bowen said, but my gut suggests some kind of moth or fly pupa. Most likely a moth (or butterfly, really almost any lepidoptera) but there are a few flies I can think of that have a similar looking pupa.

    Most moth pupae are...pretty interesting. Most of them are obtect, which means that the body parts in the pupa are visible, just squished up next to the body (which makes sense if you know about metamorphosis, but I won't get into that).

    Fly pupae are usually different. I can't remember my terminology right now, but you basically can't see any external features on the pupae.

    Compare this pupa (moth)
    CecropiaMothLabelled.jpg

    With this pupa (fly)
    4690216111_66d56fdd56_z.jpg

    Note how you can see the external features on the moth pupa (wings etc) but you can't on the fly pupa. Of course, exceptions to this rule exist, but generally it is a pretty good diagnostic.

    If you put it in a jar and keep it out of direct sunlight with a bit of ventilation, it should hatch in a month or so. Odds are, however, that the pupa has been parasitized, so what will probably emerge is a bunch of tiny flies or wasps.

    Hope this helps! If you get me a better picture I could be more confident that its a moth!

  • ArchArch Neat-o, mosquito! Registered User regular
    Also I re-read the post and if it was in a "cocoon" (which I'm assuming means 'ball of silk fibers' here), and then this fell OUT of that cocoon, it is almost 100% a moth.

  • Grunt's GhostsGrunt's Ghosts Registered User regular
    Well I know who to ask when I find strange critter in my backyard, now.

  • ArchArch Neat-o, mosquito! Registered User regular
    edited May 2016
    Once again, standing invitation for all members of the forum to PM or batsignal me for any identification of "What's this bug" and note that I am bad at spiders but better at things like centipedes and millipedes

    EDIT: I literally have a doctorate in this shit

    Arch on
  • bowenbowen How you doin'? Registered User regular
    @Arch you can kinda make out the forewing in that first picture I think, unless that's just noise.

    not a doctor, not a lawyer, examples I use may not be fully researched so don't take out of context plz, don't @ me
  • ArchArch Neat-o, mosquito! Registered User regular
    bowen wrote: »
    @Arch you can kinda make out the forewing in that first picture I think, unless that's just noise.

    Yeah, I can KINDA see...what looks like the proboscis on the first picture but I don't want to call it without a better shot.

  • The EnderThe Ender Registered User regular
    Arch wrote: »
    Right so this camera picture is pretty bad, as Bowen said, but my gut suggests some kind of moth or fly pupa. Most likely a moth (or butterfly, really almost any lepidoptera) but there are a few flies I can think of that have a similar looking pupa.

    Most moth pupae are...pretty interesting. Most of them are obtect, which means that the body parts in the pupa are visible, just squished up next to the body (which makes sense if you know about metamorphosis, but I won't get into that).

    Fly pupae are usually different. I can't remember my terminology right now, but you basically can't see any external features on the pupae.

    Compare this pupa (moth)
    CecropiaMothLabelled.jpg

    With this pupa (fly)
    4690216111_66d56fdd56_z.jpg

    Note how you can see the external features on the moth pupa (wings etc) but you can't on the fly pupa. Of course, exceptions to this rule exist, but generally it is a pretty good diagnostic.

    If you put it in a jar and keep it out of direct sunlight with a bit of ventilation, it should hatch in a month or so. Odds are, however, that the pupa has been parasitized, so what will probably emerge is a bunch of tiny flies or wasps.

    Hope this helps! If you get me a better picture I could be more confident that its a moth!

    the


    the miracle of birth


    :|

    With Love and Courage
  • MichaelLCMichaelLC In what furnace was thy brain? ChicagoRegistered User regular
    Wait, so you bought, and then ate, the banana after seeing the cocoon?

  • LilnoobsLilnoobs Alpha Queue Registered User regular
    Yeah, it was on the peel, so i figured the peel protected the insides of the banana.

    That said, here's some better pics. I upgraded from my potato camera. @Arch

    Spoilered for big.
    12vof3msvpyk.jpg
    sgaqxfwkaci2.jpg

  • BasarBasar IstanbulRegistered User regular
    The collective knowledge of PA forumers never cease to amaze me. Wow.

    i live in a country with a batshit crazy president and no, english is not my first language

  • WiseManTobesWiseManTobes Registered User regular
    Just make sure that jar isn't letting anything out, who knows where on the journey that cocoon was picked up. Introducing too foreign a species to an ecosystem can be devastating.

    eg: The Pine Beetles currently wiping out BC's forests.

    Steam! Battlenet:Wisemantobes#1508
  • TofystedethTofystedeth Registered User regular
    Basar wrote: »
    The collective knowledge of PA forumers never cease to amaze me. Wow.

    The great part is there's at least one other forumer we could have batsignaled for this question.

    steam_sig.png
  • ArchArch Neat-o, mosquito! Registered User regular
    edited May 2016
    MichaelLC wrote: »
    Wait, so you bought, and then ate, the banana after seeing the cocoon?

    Value added imo

    Also 100% that's a moth pupa.

    EDIT: well not 100% but a really almost 100% with the caveat that it could be a really weird fly

    Arch on
  • LilnoobsLilnoobs Alpha Queue Registered User regular
    edited May 2016
    Thanks! If it hatches, I'll update the thread w/pics.

    Lilnoobs on
  • LoveIsUnityLoveIsUnity Registered User regular
    For what it's worth, I'm pretty good with arachnids in case Arch isn't able to identify one in the future.

    steam_sig.png
  • TychoCelchuuuTychoCelchuuu PIGEON Registered User regular
    And I can identify Star Wars characters!

  • TofystedethTofystedeth Registered User regular
    And I can identify Star Wars characters!

    If that thing turns into a Bith we'll be sure to @ you. :razz:

    steam_sig.png
  • azith28azith28 Registered User regular
    Well it was on bananas, so im going to put my money on Terrantula Egg.

    When you wake up one day and its empty, I would suggest the application of fire to your home.

    Stercus, Stercus, Stercus, Morituri Sum
  • bowenbowen How you doin'? Registered User regular
    not a doctor, not a lawyer, examples I use may not be fully researched so don't take out of context plz, don't @ me
  • azith28azith28 Registered User regular
    If i could burn this thread without opening that link I would.

    Stercus, Stercus, Stercus, Morituri Sum
  • WiseManTobesWiseManTobes Registered User regular
    azith28 wrote: »
    If i could burn this thread without opening that link I would.

    You can, but you gotta print out the entire forum and then burn it, you aren't allowed to cheat and print just this thread.

    Steam! Battlenet:Wisemantobes#1508
  • BouwsTBouwsT Wanna come to a super soft birthday party? Registered User regular
    bowen wrote: »

    *Opens spoiler, sees video*

    imkmncj02ql6.gif


    Between you and me, Peggy, I smoked this Juul and it did UNTHINKABLE things to my mind and body...
  • azith28azith28 Registered User regular
    Toldya.

    Stercus, Stercus, Stercus, Morituri Sum
  • LilnoobsLilnoobs Alpha Queue Registered User regular
    Update: nothing hatched from it.

    Disappointing, but we gave it a few months. Dead as a door nail, though.

  • BasarBasar IstanbulRegistered User regular
    bowen wrote: »

    Darn, now I have to burn my phone as whenever I look at the screen it feels like there'll be baby spiders crawling out of there :(

    i live in a country with a batshit crazy president and no, english is not my first language

  • Bliss 101Bliss 101 Registered User regular
    edited August 2016
    Since this thread is pretty awesome, I'll use it to promote awareness of one of my favorite scientists, Maria Sibylla Merian, one of many groundbreaking female scientists who's rarely mentioned in Biology class. She discovered and documented the metamorphosis of almost 200 insect species at a time when serious scientists thought insects are spontaneously born from soil.

    Also, she drew extremely detailed and beautiful illustrations:

    vvtw7h9wlyh8.jpg

    Bliss 101 on
    MSL59.jpg
  • MichaelLCMichaelLC In what furnace was thy brain? ChicagoRegistered User regular
    My current phone background is a cherry tree by her.

This discussion has been closed.