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Photo#720554
Armored scale predator

Armored scale predator
Parc national du Mont-Saint-Bruno, Montérégie County, Quebec, Canada
August 18, 2012
Many larvas like this one ate armored scale insects (heavy infestation on pine needles)

Images of this individual: tag all
Armored scale predator Armored scale predator

Moved
Moved from Lady Beetles.

Moved
Moved from Scymninae. OK done

Higher level?
Based on the comments, it appears that this one should be moved to a higher level for now.

yes, possible Scymnine....
The head capsule shape seems unusual for a coccinellid, but I'm not actually very accustomed to seeing the head of a scymnine larva under the typical wax coating! I'll check my larval reference tonight.

 
Yeah that head capsule is throwing me off.
Maybe it's something closely related to a coccinelid?

 
Nitidulidae?
The armored scale it was feeding on might be Chionaspis pinifoliae. One of the known predator of this species is a Nitidulidae, Cybocephalus nigritulus. But I have not found any description of this species larva.

 
Perhaps.
This doesn't look like a nitidulid, they usually have urogomphi, often in two pairs, but this could be an exception.

There is a line drawing in Immature Insects of a specimen in the genus Microweisea that looks a lot like this. I'll ask around.

 
Microweisea
Yes, Microweisea marginata is another possible predator of this scale insect.
Thanks!

Moved
Moved from ID Request.

Ladybug larva.
I'm sure our ladybug expert will be able to be more specific, but that's a start for you.

 
I don't think it is a Ladybug
I don't think it is a Ladybug larvae. I think it is a lacewing larvae.

 
No it's a beetle for sure.
Lacewing larvae have falcate mandibles:



I think it's a cocenellid, maybe Scymninae. It probably just molted so it hasn't grown more wax, you can see it starting to get more.


 
No wax
Thanks Natalie and mnfardisi for your comments.

I saw a dozen of specimens but none had white wax like this Scymninae.

 
Good to know.
There are other non-wax producing ones that will feed on scales as well. We'll see what Abigail thinks :)

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