Parasitoid Wasp...

After taking too long to emerge, we discovered that some of our swallowtail chrysalises had been destroyed by a parasite. Some of the remaining chrysalises had a perfect round hole on the side of them. This was where the parasitoid wasp emerged after eating its host from the inside!

The wasp lays its eggs on the caterpillar, and once the caterpillar forms a chrysalis, the eggs hatch and the wasp larvae eats the poor caterpillar inside its chrysalis - before it has a chance to transform into a butterfly. Nature can be quite scary sometimes!