Unusual parasitized Larvae. ID help please.

[Allan.W.]

Today at Dungeness I stumbled upon this unusual Larvae ,looking at it ,I think it may be a late instar Sussex Emerald larvae but I,m not sure ? although on the surface it looks whole ,I think its been parasitized by some sort of (apanteles ??) wasp before it pupated , Sussex Emerald
is a red data book species I believe ,and Dungeness is its British Stronghold. I,m happy to be corrected re; identification.
Regards Allan.W.

[CallumMac]

I'm going to be very unhelpful and say that I don't think this looks right for Sussex Emerald (in several respects), but I can't suggest what it is! Can you recall what host plant it was seen on? In any case I think you are right that it has been quite heavily parasitized.

[Allan.W.]

Hello Callumac ,
Thanks for the reply , as you rightly say ,not quite right for Sussex Emerald ,which I know generally shows a brown stripe down the body ,but I was thrown by the four pointed head protrusions ,which Sussex Emerald ,does show , I couldn,t see anything else quite like it in any of my field guides.
It was very close to at least two of Sussex Emeralds (known ) foodplants ie; Wild Carrot and Ragwort ,but I believe it was on Broom ,to me it looks like a late instar larvae of whatever ,and was perhaps on the move prior to pupation.When it was zapped !
Thanks again for the interest . Regards Allan.W.

[CallumMac]

I can certainly see where you were coming from. My feeling was that it was structurally wrong to be Sussex Emerald - short and fat (like a noctuid) rather than long and twig-like (like most geometrids). It's actually a reasonable match for either of Nutmeg Anarta trifolii or Broom Moth Ceramica pisi, both of which are Broom-feeders.

[Pete Eeles]

I would have said Small Heath, but there seems to be 2 pairs of points on the anal segment, and a pair on the first, and the stripes are particularly bold!

Edit: What plant is it feeding on?

Cheers,

- Pete

[Allan.W.]

Hello Pete,
Am I looking at this the wrong way round ! I thought the anal end showed 2 points and the head end showed 4 points ,happy to be corrected !
It didn,t seem to be actually feeding ,but it was on a low Broom stem.
On the pics I have of the Nutmeg , I can see no protuberences from either end ,but it does look similar,colourwise …...not so sure about Broomtip.
I must admit I hadn,t thought of a butterfly larvae.
Regards Allan.W.

[Pete Eeles]

Ah - my mistake! I can see why Sussex Emerald was mentioned now!

Cheers,

- Pete

[PaynterQ]

Hi

This is my first post on UKbutterflies. I grew up in the UK (Devon), but now live in NZ. I enjoy dipping into the forum posts from time to time as NZ, while wonderful, has a rather impoverished butterfly fauna.

I'm fairly confident the parasitised larva is a grass emerald Pseudoterpna pruinata, which commonly feeds on Scotch broom. I reared a lot of these in the 1990s when it was being considered a potential biological control agent for broom in NZ.

Cheers

Quentin

[Pete Eeles]

Brilliant - thanks Quentin! And welcome to UKB

Cheers,

- Pete

[Allan.W.]

Welcome from me also Quentin ,and I reckon you,ve cracked it ! and I have seen Grass Emerald at Dungeness ,it does look like a very likely candidate ,thanks for the input Callumac ,Pete and Quentin !
Regards Allan.W.

[David M]

Impressive stuff, Quentin. Ticks all the boxes!