So rather than going to bed like I told myself I would, I ended up doing more research on leaf beetles! And it turns out….okay, so I’m going to ruin everyone’s good time, but only a little bit. See all those little noodles we thought were eggs?Well, it’s a load of shit. No, really! It’s a sub-dermal fecal shield, which is common in leaf beetles (among lots of other bugs), and actually makes a lot more sense, since members of Tetrastichus only tend to lay one egg at a time. It also explains why nearly every photo of these larvae seem to be “infested” as well. So okay, it’s not quite as metal as being filled with wasp larvae. But there’s something to be said about armor made entirely of poop. It’s so gross it almost makes up for it.
View Separately

So rather than going to bed like I told myself I would, I ended up doing more research on leaf beetles! And it turns out….okay, so I’m going to ruin everyone’s good time, but only a little bit. See all those little noodles we thought were eggs?

Well, it’s a load of shit. No, really! It’s a sub-dermal fecal shield, which is common in leaf beetles (among lots of other bugs), and actually makes a lot more sense, since members of Tetrastichus only tend to lay one egg at a time. It also explains why nearly every photo of these larvae seem to be “infested” as well.

So okay, it’s not quite as metal as being filled with wasp larvae. But there’s something to be said about armor made entirely of poop. It’s so gross it almost makes up for it.

108 Notes/ Hide

  1. fuckyeaharachnophobia reblogged this from bogleech
  2. hobbit-ses reblogged this from sprech4
  3. rocmvv reblogged this from sprech4
  4. leeeeeena reblogged this from sprech4
  5. leaumayn reblogged this from sharkchunks
  6. tunama reblogged this from pigeon-booties
  7. noahpoststhings reblogged this from bogleech
  8. napoleanbonerfart reblogged this from cool-ghoul
  9. cool-ghoul reblogged this from doc-segs
  10. thegingerbalrog reblogged this from sprech4
  11. sundays-end reblogged this from doc-segs and added:
    That’s still pretty disgusting (albeit interesting) but at least the little guy isn’t infested with worms (at least not...
  12. doc-segs reblogged this from bogleech
  13. quepaso reblogged this from sprech4
  14. bl1ndx3no reblogged this from laughingjackal
  15. laughingjackal reblogged this from bogleech
  16. abhorrentialism reblogged this from kombuchaclock
  17. tinyneedleteeth reblogged this from gogoatz
  18. porcelainfembot reblogged this from gogoatz
  19. gummymummy reblogged this from bogleech
  20. shadow-edge reblogged this from bogleech
  21. skylordlaunchpad reblogged this from hedgehodgemonster
  22. cantankerouscatfish reblogged this from bogleech