Praon v Aphids
Introduction
The photograph on this page of Praon v Aphids by Peter Pearson as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
There are currently over 7.5m images from over 14,400 individuals and you can help contribute to the project by visiting https://www.geograph.org.uk
Praon v Aphids
Image: © Peter Pearson Taken: 17 Jul 2013
Working in the garden it was noticed that there was strange looking aphid on a rose leaf. In fact it was the empty skin of an aphid with a white disc underneath.The disc was the chrysalis of a tiny parasitic wasp, of the Praon species. An adult lays its egg on the young aphid and its grub develops inside it. When the grub is mature it emerges cutting a hole in the aphids under body and attaches the aphid to the leaf on which it is living. It then uses the corpse as protection of its chrysalis from predators.
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Image Location
Latitude
51.907309
Longitude
0.925157