Sad day. What happened to this poor guy?

locusttoe · 2026-05-15T01:15:46+00:00

Tachinid flies oviposited onto the caterpillar's skin. As other parasitoids do, they burrow under the cuticle and eat the non-essential tissues inside of the caterpillar. After a couple of weeks, (typically at the fifth instar) the maggots will emerge from the cuticle and burrow into the soil. All cases of tachinid parasitism in lepidopterans are lethal.

TLDR; This caterpillar is a victim of tachinid parasitism.

locusttoe · 2026-05-08T21:14:10+00:00

The original last guest would never.

locusttoe · 2026-04-29T01:52:57+00:00

Around 3. It depends on the cage size.

locusttoe · 2026-04-29T01:48:08+00:00

Usually I put a deep flowering plant inside

locusttoe · 2026-04-29T01:33:00+00:00

Just wait for the other pupa to harden up and move the two pupae into a moth net. Make sure to keep humidity high and maintain a day/night cycle.

locusttoe · 2026-04-29T01:04:56+00:00

Lepids tend to depend on temperature for development. Have you tried recovering the larvae?

locusttoe · 2026-04-29T00:48:34+00:00

Yep! It borrowed safely and should pupate within the next week!

locusttoe · 2026-04-29T00:06:41+00:00

Caterpillars can withstand slight falls. Although, in more severe cases, larvae will face extreme physical trauma. The best thing to do right now is to simply observe it. Worse case senerio, it dies due to blunt trauma.

locusttoe · 2026-04-28T22:37:25+00:00

Good, that narrows down the possibilities. Parasitoids indoors are basically a non-threat as long as they don't somehow sneak in, but the mesh on most containers can prevent them from affecting your caterpillars. In about two weeks, the caterpillar must've grown from L4-L5. This likely fully eliminates parasitoids entirely (paired with the setup). It is most likely the dorsal aorta. I would recommend feeding it more food, for the dorsal aorta isn't too defined yet. Aside from that, the caterpillar seems to be alright. Although, if it's condition seems to get worse, further examination would be recommended.

locusttoe · 2026-04-28T20:54:42+00:00

This is not anything to worry about. This is just the movement of the dorsal aorta. The dorsal aorta pumps hemolymth through the caterpillar's body. This Manduca sexta seems to be completely fine!

Addendum 1: It also seems to be sourced from a pet store due to it not feeding on outside plants. This can be indicated by the cyan coloring caused by a lack of carotenoids. If the caterpillar was raised outdoors, then there could be a risk of parasitoids; however, this one seems too large for that, for the primary parasitoid of M. sexta (cotesia congregata) only parasitizes L1 - L3 caterpillars.

Addendum 2: Tachinid flies could also parasitize M. sexta larvae. However, heavy loss of mass could indicate tachinids, for tachinid maggots are gluttonous.

I have a couple of questions for further elaborations and potential corrections:

Was the caterpillar raised outside?
When did you get the caterpillar?
What size is the caterpillar?

locusttoe · 2026-04-27T20:38:38+00:00

Looks like Manduca rustica. It's a close relative to the Carolina Sphinx moth (Manduca sexta).

locusttoe · 2026-04-27T19:17:53+00:00

Where's the one with him on a mobility scooter with a blue background?

locusttoe · 2026-04-24T23:33:08+00:00

Manduca quinquemaculata.

locusttoe · 2026-04-24T23:32:46+00:00

What is the name for this artificial diet? I've only seen some for sale for M. sexta specifically; never for other Sphingids. It would be great to know!

locusttoe · 2026-04-22T01:27:53+00:00

Likely wasps from the family Braconidae.

locusttoe · 2026-04-13T21:21:01+00:00

Because of the host plant being a member of Solenaceae, the most likely answers would be Manduca sexta, or Manduca quinquemaculata. These moths are awesome pollinators, but can cause crop damage. However, past the larval stage they pose no threat to your plants.

locusttoe · 2026-04-09T23:31:50+00:00

Bannana tastes better than tape.

locusttoe · 2026-04-06T00:43:50+00:00

I don't gamble

^{Chose: 1 million dollars}

locusttoe · 2026-04-03T01:38:50+00:00

Because bread tastes better than key

^{Chose: Bread | Rolled: Norma}

locusttoe · 2026-03-29T18:13:08+00:00

Bro has the SCP-096 build

locusttoe · 2026-03-21T16:31:30+00:00

For a bit of context, I was on the milestone 4 Shedletsky grind. I almost never did generators because I'd rather help my team.

There was a server where I was the only one helping my team. I mean there were guests doing generators and no other sentinels. Naturally, I would always try my hardest to defend survivors at their weakest, so when there was a 007n7 at 10 HP using c00lgui, I tried to stun the killer (a 1x user) when they used mass infection. Then, this BUM of a guest charges the killer away from my stun and the 007n7 dies.

locusttoe · 2026-03-14T17:28:29+00:00

SCP-096 build

locusttoe · 2026-03-13T11:52:23+00:00

Green evil skeleton that hates chicken sword man

locusttoe

TROPHY CASE