In addition to nutritionally
supporting many caterpillars, the oleander tree was also physically supporting several vines. One of these vines was about to bloom when I first arrived in Florida, and whenever I checked on the caterpillars I would also check on the buds. I did not have to wait long before the first bud opened, revealing a very distinctive inflorescence.
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An aroid vine (Araceae) with an open inflorescence and several buds. |
I was less successful in discovering what was inside a strange object underneath one of the vine leaves. It appeared to be a cocoon and although most of its silk was yellow, there was a dark green line going down the middle.
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The mysterious yellow cocoon (?) with a green line across the middle. |
The green line puzzled me -- it made the cocoon more obvious, yet it did not look like the warning signal of something dangerous or distasteful. I hoped to find answers online, but I could not even find a picture or description resembling the cocoon. I began to wonder if this cocoon just happened to have been woven in a peculiar way, until I found a second and then a third cocoon with the same green line. Therefore, it now seems highly unlikely that the green line is just a random pattern; however, why there is a green line and what is behind it remain mysteries.
It's a spinyback orbweaver spider nest.
ReplyDeleteYes, thank you. The identity of the "cocoon" was actually the topic of a couple of later posts: http://naturalcurrentevents.blogspot.com/2013/02/tracing-thin-green-line.html and http://naturalcurrentevents.blogspot.com/2013/03/and-surprise-welcome-present.html
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