Brown inchworm caterpillar perched on a nearly vertical green leaf petiole against a black background. Three creamy orange parasitic wasp larvae, each approximately the size of the caterpillar's head, are attached to the caterpillar's back.

I've been following the "progress" of this little (<1 cm) #inchworm #caterpillar for a couple of days. It is wearing a trio of #ectoparasitic wasp larvae (in Family #Chalcididae). They're siphoning the caterpillar's blood & bodily fluids. It'll die soon & they will form pupae near the cadaver.

Vector of the Month: #Gnathia #Africana (#African #fish #gnat), a temporary #ectoparasitic #isopod & the vector transmitting #apicomplexan parasite #Haemogregarina #bigemina among #fish hosts in #SouthAfrica, written by Kerry Hadfield, Anja Erasmus & Nico Smit.

authors.elsevier.com/a/1kzle5Eb1x...

Stick insect (maybe genus Dyme?) bearing body-length antennae with red legs and a green and yellow body dotted with black spines resting vertically on an upright branch in the vegetation of an Ecuadorian rainforest. Attached just behind the head of the stick insect is a yellowish-white engorged ectoparasitic fly species in genus Forcipomyia.

Close-up of stick insect Stick insect (maybe genus Dyme?) showing the black spines dotted along the green and yellow body. A leaf forms the background vegetation of this photo taken in an Ecuadorian rainforest.

Centered in a close-up image of a stick insect is a yellowish-white engorged ectoparasitic fly (a species in the genus Forcipomyia) attached behind a prothorasic leg.

“Functional & decorative?” This #stick #insect (Order #Phasmatodea) from #RioQuijosEcolodge #Ecuador sports an impressive suit of spines on its green, red & yellow body. They look harmless, but maybe not be in a predator's mouth! An engorged #Ectoparasitic #Forcipomyia #fly isn’t bothered by them.