4. Azeta rhodogaster (family Noctudae)

Azeta rhodogaster's Fusion Table contains 785 records of this distinctive red-abdomened moth.  Both caterpillars and adults are  common and conspicuous in the dry forest where the caterpillar inventory began, and its caterpillar records go back to 1979.  Note that large numbers of caterpillars were collected in 1998 (446), 2003 (132) and 2005 (162).  They were collected in bulk in search of a low density caterpillar parasitoid - a fly or wasp that develops inside the growing caterpillar, or pupa, and in the process kills its host.  Because this parasitism eventually ends in death they are often called "parasitoids".  Some parasitoids are astonishingly low in density and are not found until hundreds of their host caterpillars have been reared.  The overwhelming majority of lepidopteran (moth and butterfly) species have parasitoids in their caterpillars and pupae, but none has yet been reared for this abundant species. 





This page is a complement to http://www.ontariogenomics.ca/outreach/BOLD4