Geometridae (family) IMMATURE

Yass River, NSW

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Identification history

Geometridae (family) IMMATURE 5 Apr 2026 ibaird
Geometridae (family) IMMATURE 5 Apr 2026 SuziBond
Unverified 19 Feb 2026 JonLewis

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User's notes

Caterpillar on Cherry Ballart carrying a big parasite load. What sort of parasites?

2 comments

ibaird wrote:
   5 Apr 2026
iNaturaliat's AI seems to be suggesting the parasites may be Euplectrus wasp larvae. see here:-
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/41228487
https://bie.ala.org.au/species/https://biodiversity.org.au/afd/taxa/53632ab4-5051-4c45-a1f5-42255938566f#overview
ALA: 'Euplectrus wasps (a cosmopolitan genus) have been found as parasitoids on the caterpillars of the families Erebidae, Euteliidae, Geometridae, Lasiocampidae, Noctuidae, Nolidae, Notodontidae, Sphingidae and Tortricidae. The larvae of all species of Euplectrus are greenish-yellow and are very obvious on the host caterpillar's cuticle to which they are very firmly attached. The parasitized caterpillars feed and remain active but stop growing and moulting."
JonLewis wrote:
   8 Apr 2026
Hi Ian, thanks very much for the very interesting information about Euplectrus wasps. I would never have guessed! Cheers, Jon

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Location information

Sighting information

Additional information

  • Cherry ballart Associated plant
  • Parasites carried on caterpillar Associated animal
  • 5mm to 12mm Animal size

Species information

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