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Photo#163530
Scavenging Pack Rat Insect?

Scavenging Pack Rat Insect?
Florida Panhandle (Fort Walton Beach, near Destin), Okaloosa County, Florida, USA
January 1, 2008
Size: Roughly 1cm or less
I found this bug outdoors, walking around a windowsill the other evening after dusk. The area in which I found it is littered with plant and bug debris (close to where I found a brown widow, which I've been keeping to watch and learn about -- pictures may follow later). I believe it has six legs.
I have observed this bug pick up pieces of dead bugs and attach them to the pile of debris it carries upon its back. It was fairly disinterested in the human food crumbs that were on the counter I had it explore. I speculate that it is a carnivorous scavenger that doesn't hunt its own live prey; perhaps the debris it collects is strictly used for camouflage, perhaps for more, I don't know.

Does anyone know what kind of bug this is?

-- Sid
(Kudos to my mother for the awesome photos she was able to get of this tiny creature.)

Images of this individual: tag all
Scavenging Pack Rat Insect? Scavenging Pack Rat Insect?

Looks like...
a green lacewing larva. We have a guide page with other images of these.

 
Ah!
Thank you!

Funny thing is, during my searching for identification, I ran across a picture of one of those, but for whatever reason, I imagined it immobile and did not recognize it as the same kind of creature. (For one thing, the image I saw had no debris, I think. The image might have been in the "Frass" section on the site here.)

Thank you for the identification and the link to other images of their kind.

-- Sid

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