Quit Bug'n the Lady

Filaments and a parasite? My lucky day...

Name's Wade. I work cases other P.I.'s leave in the gutter. From the moment this Lady set tarsus in my office, I knew she'd be trouble. Had clearly been involved with one of this city's countless spiders; walked straight into a web, and now she was about to pull me in with her…

The dame had a carapace that wont quit

To get real for a minute, I observed a number of filaments that had attached themselves to the shell of the ladybug. I’ve made note of this occuring with other insects I’ve examined. Clearly,

filaments are adept at hitching rides on anything that comes into contact with them, and you can get a sense of their microscopic size in relation to the insect.

The other strange thing I observed: some sort of parasitic worm can be seen squirming beneath a translucent triangular membrane (scutellum) located at the juncture of the insect’s wings (elytra) and head. Gonna need to brush up on my insect anatomy as well as any known parasitical afflictions these ladybugs beetles might be expected have. Any insight would be most welcome.

The filaments only appear to adhear, not embed.

But it seems the can relyably be found anywhere you take the time to look.

Case closed? Not by a long-shot.