This creature is the white turtle-shell like thing in the pics. Would love an ID! I dissected one, and here is what I found:
The shell is thick, waxy, and has "ports", those are the dots arranged on top and around it, with a small feathery object protruding from the center of some.
The inside is a thick, red flesh-colored substance, uniform throughout.
The bottom-side, where it contacts the plant, shows the red within the white shell border. It is dry, but may exude a drop of amber colored fluid upon removal from the plant.
There is no obvious "insect" anatomy; legs, head, thorax. Nor are there smaller organisms visible at up to 40x, that make up this thing. Could it be a fungus?
