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Found this in the back yard at night. Had two greenish firefly-like lights on one end of its scaly body that it would turn on when touched, as shown in the photograph.
This appears to be a larva of a firefly (Coleoptera: Lampyridae); its head is hidden by an extension of its pronotum. These insects are general predators on other arthropods and invertebrates, including snails - see http://tinyurl.com/yj574am for an image of one in action.
Thank you. Can they grow this big? It was ~4.3cm long. An ant which happened to pass by is in the upper right corner of the photograph. Attaching another photo, with an ant clinging to one of its feet.
Some firefly larvae can reach a length of 5 cm; in many insects, the greatest length and mass is attained in the larval rather than in the adult stage.
