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Project Noah Nature School
Very small (see last picture for scale). Body is green with barbed projections from the sides. Carries detritus(?) on top of its body.
Fen, feeding on nightshade.
At first, I thought it was a slug moth caterpillar, but with further research it seems much more likely to be a tortoise beetle larva, based on the food plant. I've included a link to BugGuide that looks similar to this species, but the closest to an ID I can come for now is tribe Cassidini, the tortoise beetles. Found at Cedar Bog State Nature Preserve. As a side note, this spotting is a lesson in paying attention to your surroundings. At least a dozen people passed by this insect before I spotted it. I later found five other individuals after looking for more nightshade.
Spotted on Jul 10, 2011
Submitted on Aug 3, 2011
1 Comment
Interesting!