What you found is a moth pupa. Some moths don't spin a silk cocoon to conceal themselves while they pupate....instead, they dig into the dirt for protection and then finish their metamorphosis underground. This kind of moth pupa sometimes tends to dehydrate when left out in the open.

Judy
www.ButterflyNature.com

It's a pupa of some sort, Cathy. Maybe it's a sphinx moth that's getting ready to emerge, which might explain why it's on the top of the ground - I'd sure keep it to see what type of moth it is, assuming it's still alive. Does it have a little hole in it? It may have be eaten by ants or other predators.
MissSherry

Butterflypixie, I'm glad I didn't kill it then. It looked kind of ugly to me, but then again, I used to think caterpillars were ugly. lol I never knew that about some moths digging into the ground...very interesting.

MissSherry, Darn, now I wish I would have kept it, but being that I was sure what it was, I was afraid that if it was anything good that I might be depriving it of food if I kept it and it needed to it. I did see it move. That's why I wasn't sure if it was a pupa or what it was. I know that my Monarch pupas didn't move while I had them here except of course when the caterpillars was wiggling around in there getting situated right after it went into pupation. Nope, it didn't have an holes in it as far as I could see. It was definitely alive.

Cathy

Many beetles also have pupal stages that look similar to
the one in your photo.

Okay, thanks, Larry. I didn't know that either. I saw the neatest looking beetle yesterday that reminded me of a bumble bee. I'd have taken a picture but from these I already took, I knew it wouldn't come out well so didn't bother.
Cathy