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Green lacewing debris-carrying larva

Chrysopidae

Description:

The larvae are flat and elongated (alligator-like) with large jaws. Debris-carrying larvae cover themselves with bits of litter, perhaps to deter predators such as lady beetles.

Habitat:

My yard

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9 Comments

Maria dB
Maria dB 10 years ago

Hi Rieko. Not all lacewing moth larva do this but green lacewings seem to be very good at it. There are some other insect larva that do it, such as tortoise beetles. They end up looking very different according to what debris they carry; here is another spotting of one: http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/309...

M Fortune
M Fortune 10 years ago

Amazing!

RiekoS
RiekoS 10 years ago

Very interesting. Do they always do this?

Maria dB
Maria dB 10 years ago

Thank you, Jacob, Dez, Noel, Ursula and Ava. Ursula, the larva of the lacewing moth does not yet fly and covering itself in debris doesn't seem to weigh it down too much either for walking. It was BugGuide that alerted me to what I was seeing; I had never heard of this before either. The insect world is fascinating.

Ava T-B
Ava T-B 10 years ago

Amazing.

Ursula
Ursula 10 years ago

what? what a cool creature! :) how does it fly, because i can't seem to find where to put its parts?

Noel Buensuceso
Noel Buensuceso 10 years ago

Interesting!

Smith Zoo
Smith Zoo 10 years ago

Super sweet!

Jacob Gorneau
Jacob Gorneau 10 years ago

Fantastic macros, Maria!

Maria dB
Spotted by
Maria dB

Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States

Spotted on Jun 28, 2013
Submitted on Jun 29, 2013

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