Subject: bug with debris on top
Geographic location of the bug: southeast Louisiana
Date: 06/03/2020
Time: 08:15 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman: There were three of these critters on a tomato plant this May. At first I just though they were large frass or small bird dropings. On a closer look, I saw there were leg-like projections. I gently teased the debris off of one and discovered a beautiful, delicite being with what looked like a smiling frog face staring up at me.
How you want your letter signed: Art
Clavate Tortoise Beetle Larva
Dear Art,
This is the larva of a Clavate Tortoise Beetle, Plagiometriona clavata, and the debris on its back is fecal matter and it thought to act as camouflage or protection for the larva. Here is a BugGuide image. According to BugGuide food plants include: “ground-cherries (Physalis), Jimsonweed (Datura stramonium), and Solanum spp. (Solanaceae)” and tomatoes are in the family Solanaceae.
The post Clavate Tortoise Beetle Larva on Tomato Plant appeared first on What's That Bug?.
source https://www.whatsthatbug.com/2020/06/05/clavate-tortoise-beetle-larva-on-tomato-plant/
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