Lady Beetle Larva

This looks like Mulsantina picta

Unless Paranaemia vittigera can look like this -- but at that location, not likely.

… James Bailey, 9 January, 2016 - 11:52pm

was it near water?

I see that a small part of Mountain Meadows Reservoir is in Lassen County. Were you by any chance in that area when you found it?

… Abigail Parker, 7 August, 2014 - 11:00am

This larva was actually found inside my home on a window sill. I have several cherry trees, and cherry-plum trees which are usually heavily infested with aphids; and which attract an abundance of lady beetles, lacewings, and soldier beetles. The lady beetle larva often crawl up on the sides of the house to pupate. This one probably came through a damaged window screen.

The swampy shore line of the reservoir is about 3/4 of a mile from my home.

… Jim Moore, 7 August, 2014 - 11:34am

it was a long shot...

This bears a pretty strong resemblance to Naemia seriata, which is a waterside species; I think 3/4 mile from water is farther than it would go. I also don't know if N. seriata occurs at higher elevations, but I thought it was worth checking out, at least.

There are a number of larvae similar to this one languishing in the Unidentified node. Hopefully at some point I'll have a breakthrough and figure them all out!

… Abigail Parker, 8 August, 2014 - 10:19am

larger photos possible?

I'd like to get a better look at some of the details, especially in the head-on photo. I know BG encourages cropping and reduced image size, but a large/full-res image could be the key to ID'ing this one.

Black and white larvae are fairly uncommon. The only one I'm familiar with in CA is Cycloneda polita, which this one definitely isn't (similar, but a few details don't match.)

… Abigail Parker, 7 April, 2014 - 10:44am

larger photos?

Well, the photos originally submitted are my highest resolution images for this specimen. However I have submitted an extra 'enlarged' frontal view of the original photo; although I do not know if better details can be seen.

Anyway, thanks for taking a look at this specimen!

… Jim Moore, 7 April, 2014 - 11:52am

I'll see what I can do!

I'll check my larval key and see if anything comes up with the detail available from the photos.

… Abigail Parker, 7 April, 2014 - 12:06pm