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There are many enemies in
the life of a Little Tortoiseshell such as mice and birds, but the
larges part of its enemies are insects themselves. They live as what we
call parasites. They can attack during all stages of the Little
Tortoiseshell's life. Some attack the caterpillar. At the age when the
caterpillars still live together they might be visited by a Braconid.
They are related to bees and wasps sand omewhat resemble them, but are
much smaller. With their ovipositor, the females can penetrate the skin of a
caterpillar and lay eggs into it.
From these eggs larvae hatch, that at first live of the body liquids of the caterpillar, trying to make their host live for as long a time as possible. In a certain stage of maturity, the larvae all of a sudden eat up the caterpillar completely and finally penetrate its empty skin to get outside. For their own protection, they weave a communal cocoon that resembles a cotton fluff. Dead caterpillar on the communal cocoon of Braconidae |
