What is THAT coming out of the Stevia pot?

[applestar]

I * may* have reached a new level of creepy in encouraging living soil foodweb in my container plants.

This morning, I was releasing some more ladybugs around my plants that are overwintering indoors, and saw tan colored moist/shiny looking "something" protruding from the soil at the base of the Stevia plant .

On closer examination, I realized it was a rather giant insect face.

I've been watching and video recording ever since , but here's a preliminary first peek at what has laboriously crawled out of the soil:

This could be why this Stevia plant has been doing poorly. I thought I haven't quite got the hang of how to care for it properly.... I'm surprised it has been able to feed on its root sap. But maybe it's almost as good as tree root sap ?

[applestar]

Good view of hooked front claw

Side view -- recognize it yet?

[PunkRotten]

Spear it with a BBQ skewer.

[applestar]

[applestar]

We were out all day yesterday, and when we came home, younger DD went straight to the stevia pot to check on the little guy, but he was crunched on the soil not moving. ...still looking the same this morning...

I'm convinced it was way too cold for it to emerge. Don't know if it's dead or not but I'll go get some potting soil mixed with sand later and cover him up again.

It was pretty much doomed anyway -- I was wondering all day yesterday if I had any "tree" in the house that a mature cicada could feed on if it managed to metamorphose -- avocado, citrus, mango, Norfolk Island pine, ... Fig is out in the garage so no good... Other plants... Peppers, tomatoes, bananas, pineapple, poinsettia, jasmine....

Just as a thought exercise -- do you find cicadas on any of these where they grow outside in the ground?

[rainbowgardener]

you are telling us it is a cicada, or the cast off skin of one?

I have never seen cicadas on any of my garden plants, except when we have the invasion of the 17 yr cicadas, when they are pretty much every where.

[applestar]

Oh it's still wearing it's skin

Normally outside, they emerge from the ground around late June-July when it starts to get hot. Then they climb up the tree (or other structures) and metamorphose over several days (I think -- I meant to look that up but haven't had the chance), then split the back of the larval husk and emerge to stretch wings and dry off -- just like butterflies.

Where this pot is, there is a wooden shelving unit blocking the heat vent so the hot air comes out from behind the unit along the wall. We had blustery/windy day and night when the central heater couldn't keep up and was running all day and night -- I can tell because the RH had dropped down to 38% by morning.

Maybe the clay pot got heated up and the poor thing thought it was hot enough to come out.