Here are some slightly blurry shots from the lifecycle of a figwort weevil - Cionus scrophulariae:
The young don't look like arthropods at all - they appear soft and very slimy, like tiny slugs or misplaced flatworms.
Their pupal cases are a mockery of the figwort buds which they have despoiled to grow so very quickly. Note that this figwort shoot is also being throttled by bindweed.
Here is the finished product - using its funny, curved proboscis to defoliate the very same plant whose buds have been so thoroughly ruined.
Here is the result of all that hard work. Time to find a new figwort plant...
Getting together to make a new generation of figwort eaters!
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