I spotted this on a sunflower leaf about 8PM last night, and didn’t realize what I was looking at. I believe this is the back end.

John Dunstan’s “Total Metamorphosis” video makes it quite clear that this is one stage of a ladybug transformation. This little creature was racing along beside the one above, which wasn’t moving.

If I’d realized they were beneficials, I would have not deposited the leaf with the emerging ladybug in the recycling bin! 🙁 Thanks for reading! – Kaye