![]() | Case-bearing leaf beetle larva CRYPTOCEPHALINAE, CHRYSOMELIDAE | (donherbisonevans@yahoo.com ) and Stella Crossley |
(Photo: courtesy of
Roger Williams,
Macgregor, Australian Capital Territory)
This is not a cocoon of a caterpillar, but is the larval case of a Leaf-eating Beetle. It is a stiff brown rounded case made of the larva's fecal material, in size about 1 cm. It is carried along by the larva, protecting its unarmoured abdomen.
There are about a hundred species in the CRYPTOCEPHALINAE subfamily in Australia.
![]() not-lepidoptera | ![]() not-caterpillars | ![]() Lepidoptera | ![]() not-moths | ![]() not-lepidoptera |
(written 18 September 2022, updated 31 January 2024)