17th June 2021
On the way home from work I checked some Mullein plants and noticed the caterpillars of the Mullein moth. I've seen loads of these (although still not an adult moth), but also noticed that a couple of them were small and orange. I recognised the general appearance as having been 'mummified' by a type of parasitic wasp. I reared the wasp through, and it as identified online as an Aleiodes species. I then got in touch with national expert Mark Shaw, who asked for the wasp and the mummified caterpillar to be sent to him with a view to adding it to the collection at Edinburgh museum. When conditions allow it might be DNA barcoded, but his assumption is that it is likely to be Aleiodes leptofemur.
