I picked up this sycamore leaf the other day as I was walking through the neighborhood because this little thingy on it caught my eye. It looks like a double eclosure: If that were true the outer shell would be the host species and the inner shell the parasitoid. However, Cindy (see comment and link to excellent info below) has given an ID on this one: it is the pupal molt of the twice-stabbed ladybeetle, genus Chilocorus, apparently often found on sycamore trees feeding on scale or other sucking insects. The outer white and black shell is the final larval molt, and the inner reddish shell is the pupal molt. Thanks Cindy, now I have closure on this eclosure! The leaf looks p
retty, too, set on the arm of my freshly painted chair. BTW if you take a notion to paint your adirondack chair(s) like I did, bear in mind just how many surfaces there are.
1 comment:
It looks like the pupa of the twice-stabbed lady beetle. It's normal for the shells to be split open like that. I found the mature larvae and pupae for the first time last spring, and posted them on BugGuide while I waited to see what hatched out. Later, I added pictures of the adult beetles as well.
The sycamore trees where I found them were full of lace bugs. I think that's what they were eating.
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