I believe this is a sawfly larva. They usually look and act like caterpillars, although this one looks like a really ugly caterpillar. In fact, they are wasps. Their ancestors may be one of the most primitive groups of wasps, which later gave rise to many of the bees, wasps and ants of today.
A big thank you to our project backers from yesterday: David Sollors, Bob Turner and April Steenburgh!
[…] scroll down to a couple past posts, you’ll see that this insect went from what looked like a strange, goo-covered caterpillar to a bizarre, armored alien looking pupa. As it turns out, it was a tortoise beetle all along and […]