Strange But True

I recently came upon a bizarre spiky insect crawling around inside an empty birdbath. After doing some research, I've identified it as the final larval stage of Harmonia axyridis, or the Multicolored Asian Lady Beetle (Bug). Knowing what ladybugs look like, I'm amazed that this black-and-orange thing covered in spikes could turn into such a beautiful beetle. But yes, it's true! Unfortunately, despite being beautiful, these ladybugs are considered to be an invasive, destructive species.

I'm sorry I wasn't able to zoom in further, but it was running around so fast that I was fortunate to have gotten any photos. I'll provide some sites below where you can look at magnified images.

Compare the photos above to this series:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harmonia_axyridis
This shows, from left to right: mating, eggs, 5 larval stages, pupa, and newly-emerged adult. The larval stage I photographed is at the bottom left corner.

References:
http://bugguide.net/node/view/397
http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/br/lbeetle/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC524671/
http://ohioline.osu.edu/hse-fact/1030.html