Many insects go through a stage in their life where they don’t look like their adult selves, where… many would say they’re not exactly as adorable as their adult form, for example: Manduca sexta - Really pretty moth but the caterpillar tends to decimate garden favorites like tomato and pepper Co…

Glochidium of bivalves, everything that is pretty as an adult and just has to be a parasite as larva, so Meloidae also fits in! [image]

I was also thinking of beetle larvae https://bugtracks.wordpress.com/tag/triangulin/ but my experience is with Ripiphoridae. It’s an interesting evolution to lay your eggs on a flower and let the bee sabotage her own nest.

First time we saw certain Sphinx Moth caterpillars on iNat, we thought they were a toy, like not a living creature. https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/101146666

[image] vreinkymov: not exactly as adorable as their adult form I think Papilio cresphontes definitely fits the bill where the larva are not as pretty as the adult. However, I find them twice as interesting! Sometimes it pays to look like s*** (observation 126257250 below). Later instars sti…

crustacean larvae are funny, very funny and cute as these porcelain crab larvae [image] [image]

This morning, beetle larvae on my orchid. The species is Lema pectoralis. [IMG_20221022_083244a]

Check out the top observations in this larva project

Syrphid flies normally do not win any awards for cutest larvae (just the name Rat-tailed Maggot should tip you off why), but genus Microdon is an absolute delight. Look at that tiny face! (via this observation) [originalsyrph1]

I still think that the cutest larvae are the woolly bears (Pyrrharctia isabella). And the most hideous larvae are the Myrmeleontidae.

I think my favourite larvae I’ve met so far are the caterpillars of the dainty swallowtail butterfly, papilio anactus! [image] [image] [image] [image] I caught a few of them from my citrus tree a few summers ago, kept them for observation, and successfully raised them all to maturity before re…

Lots of Lovable Larva

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Lots of Lovable Larva

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