Prettiest Larva!

  I admit to not being overly fond of caterpillars or larvae of any kind munching away on my garden plants but if they stick to wild plants, I am good.  I will, occasionally, leave certain caterpillars on things like the fennel or parsley simply because I usually have a garden full of plants and I do like butterflies.  However, if the larva turns into some ugly, biting bug, then it has got to go.  Today's larvae do not turn into ugly, biting bugs but rather adorable, innocuous beetles.  

  After hearing the "neighborhood watch" clan throw out their uproar of calls, I decided that I had better check what was happening.  Blue jays are notorious for finding snakes and these were near the pier.  Well, I never found the snake.  I was sidetracked by the beautiful larvae!  The Groundsel bushes next to the pier were literally covered with the tiny caterpillar like things.  The sunshiny day had caused hundreds of the critters to hatch and they were happily munching away on the leaves.  These were the Groundsel Bush Beetle larvae.  (Long name for a tiny critter!)  Although, the larvae were about a half inch long, they were hard to miss.  These are some of the most iridescently colored critters alive!  My interest in photographing a cottonmouth or water snake soon disappeared as I became obsessed with the larvae.

  You would think that a beetle would look a lot like its larva in color, at least.  Not so.  The Groundsel Bush Beetle larva is rainbow colored and quite shiny while the adult beetle is yellow with black stripes and dots.  In fact, they are so different that it took me several seasons before I realized these were one and the same.  Now, I seek out the larvae in early spring to admire their colors and then the beetles during midsummer to do likewise with them.  Yes, they do eat the leaves of the bush but that is not of big concern.  The bushes can grow out of control so I figure the critters are just doing me a favor.