Page 1 of 1

What is this insect?

Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2022 11:14 pm
by raingerr
Hi, just found this guy in my backyard. I’m in Arizona. When I poked it it was able to scrunch up back into the black shell thing. Looks almost like a maggot but i have no clue what the black part is since it’s attached and moves around with it.
94BE1FF2-9502-4E15-9B55-E65CE9D842DC.jpeg
94BE1FF2-9502-4E15-9B55-E65CE9D842DC.jpeg (385.07 KiB) Viewed 377 times
4A0DD880-578A-4664-96A6-8C8D3CEAAD91.jpeg
4A0DD880-578A-4664-96A6-8C8D3CEAAD91.jpeg (669.59 KiB) Viewed 377 times

Re: What is this insect?

Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2022 11:41 pm
by livingplanet3
raingerr wrote: Wed Nov 09, 2022 11:14 pm Hi, just found this guy in my backyard. I’m in Arizona. When I poked it it was able to scrunch up back into the black shell thing. Looks almost like a maggot but i have no clue what the black part is since it’s attached and moves around with it.
The larva of a case-bearing leaf beetle (family Chrysomelidae, subfamily Cryptocephalinae) -

https://bugguide.net/node/view/620672/bgimage

https://bugguide.net/node/view/13739/bgimage