A worldwide community photographing and learning about wildlife
Project Noah Nature School
Hemisphaerota cyanea
The larva is covered in a straw-like mass called 'frass', aka feces. (see Notes)
spotted on palmetto frond in scrub land sanctuary
Upon hatching, the young larva begins to excrete strands of dry feces that curl up over its back and accumulate to form a dense thatch-like shield. Larvae have an anal fork to hold the fecal shield in place. The fecal shield has been shown to be an effective defense against a predacious larva of Cycloneda sanguinea (L.) (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) and the predacious stink bug, Stiretrus anchorago (Fabricius) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae). However, the carabid beetle, Calleida viridipennis (Say) (Coleoptera: Carabidae) is able to penetrate the larva's defense by chewing through the shield or by getting underneath it and prying it up
Spotted on Nov 14, 2011
Submitted on Nov 27, 2011
20 Comments
Much appreciated, Harsha.
Looks great! Nice spotting auntnance.
Thank you, Argy Bee and Mayra. This has become one of my favorite spottings.
FASCINATING!!!
Super IDing aunt. Fascinating spotting.
Truthfully I dismissed these photos as 'just some stuff' on a palm. But in looking for another ID, I happened upon the reference link attached to this spotting. I thought I may have deleted the 'stuff' files, but finally found them. So, Ashley, I had no clue; but have learned not to delete even the most obscure photos. And Gilma and Yuko, the amazing thing is what can be learned from the PN community. Thanks for your comments.
Great spotting! Who would even imagine (other than the PN experts) that this is actually a beetle larva!?
Amazing!!
How did you even figure out this was an animal??
I thought it was pretty incredible, Mayra; this was the first time I'd ever seen one.
Wow!!! Incredible!!!
wao!, it looks like a birds nest
Think about, they go through a great part of their lives covered with poo...
This is the adult beetle: http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/720...
A pretty extreme survival strategy to be sure. At least giant swallowtail caterpillars only 'look' like poop.
I ditto lori.tas -- coolest yuckiest thing ever!
Seems like a good tactic to avoid getting eaten!
That is possibly the coolest yuckiest thing ever.
Wow - I've never seen anything like it. Great find!
This is by far the strangest thing I've discovered in the scrub--really exciting.