Covering yourself with garbage is a great way to look less delicious to predators. More than a hundred million years ago, one insect species took this strategy to the extreme by growing a kind of giant trash can on its back. Scientists could identify the new species thanks to a remarkable specimen that was preserved—along with an informative topping of trash—in amber.
The insect that kindly died in a blob of tree resin in early-Cretaceous Spain was a young green lacewing. Modern-day green lacewings are predatory insects common in North American and Europe. Before they develop their lacy adult wings, the larvae of some species protect themselves by carrying trash around. They collect plant material, insect carcasses, and other debris in their jaws, then twist their heads around to tangle the material into short appendages growing out of their backs. The trash camouflages them and provides a physical, untasty shield ...
