thanks, still not been able to identify them exactly. Seams they almost fit the description of some kind of stink bug. The hunt continues
lindanz,
Dec 26, 7:37pm
Do they kill the cattys, I have watched wasps suck them dry grrr nasties
matthews4,
Dec 26, 8:09pm
Have seen Praying Mantis hold a butterfly wings, and eat the body.Hate the things, get rid on any pods of eggs I see, as each contain 30 or more.Also, paper wasps eat the caterpillars, also HB allergic to their sting, so we get rid of all those as well.
lindanz,
Dec 26, 8:33pm
Do agree re paper wasps but I love the native mantids they kill the wasps have seen them, good to see and the native ones are becoming quite rare now !
wenpen,
Dec 26, 8:33pm
Here you go, Ihad the same problem with green stink bugs eating my monarch's a few years ago.
I agree it is a weevil - the one I caught today has a long snout, black body with two yellow spots and it was dragging a tiny caterpillar along a leaf.Last year it was the Asian paper wasp that attacked the caterpillars in my garden.Might make a bit of soup with these invaders - perhaps it may deter them!
deathrockboy,
Dec 27, 4:02am
The bug pictured in the initial post is not a weevil. Weevils have snouts, and don't have a pointed proboscis. Weevils are almost all vegetarian. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curculionidae The insect in the initial pictured is a true bug (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/- Hemiptera) and looks very similar to Cermatulus nasalis which is known to prey on monarch caterpillars in New Zealand.
mottly,
Dec 27, 8:59pm
now that the wasps are out n about, most caterpillars won't stand a chance anyway ;(We've had the ants bore holes into the chrysalis' too, and eat them.
matthews4,
Dec 28, 12:44am
It is not the native praying mantis, think is an imported one, that kills the monarchs.It is a lot bigger than the native one.
lindanz,
Dec 28, 12:14pm
The native is smaller and green, the import from SA is a pinky buff colour.
mottly,
Dec 28, 3:19pm
we've got loads of the big fat praying mantis - they don't touch the caterpillars here, just the butterflies.My kids are always picking them off and moving them to the vege garden - I don't touch them, the females latch on to your finger enough to draw blood.grummpy things.
cantabman1,
Dec 28, 3:40pm
This is all just nature doing its thing.[the cycle of life] It is best as sad as it is, to maybe to leave it all alone as if you interfere with one species, you can upset the balance.
auburn4,
Jan 3, 7:02pm
The new on the scene Sth African mantis is the one that happily sucks the caterpillars dry. The females have a large abdomen and the males are skinny runty little things and they come in a range of colours from yellow to orange,brown and muddy grey. They don't pray but they sure as heck prey. Our native praying mantis is green slender for both sexes and has beautiful blue/green 'plates' on the inside of their praying limbs and are now scarce as the Sth African mantis has decimated them or at least they have locally. It's been quite some years since I've seen a native praying mantis. The paper wasps also kill the Monarch caterpillars and I've seen them having a go at the chrysalis too.
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