Dress The Trash

A while ago I posted a pic on Twitter of what I thought was a mite and tagged it #mite. It was tiny, white and looked to me as though it had lots of legs. It was covered with rubbish and algae. I wanted to identify it.

A man in America had just started a Twitter account for his father, an expert on mites. His dad identified my bug as not a mite but as the larva of a lacewing fly. They are known to carry 'trash' around on their backs. How weird. Thanks @eMcmite Here's the pic of a lacewing fly that I promised you. :)

My insect has discarded its ugly coat made of trash for a beautiful cape of lacy wings. There's a fashion in wedding photography known as "trash the dress" where the bride's dress is reduced to trash while she is wearing it. That's weird too but I quite like it. :)