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| Tortoise Beetle |
The Tortoise Beetle generally is golden in color, but when disturbed it can change color rapidly—very much like a chameleon. It can pull its legs and antenna under the flattened dome on top of its body like a tortoise, rendering itself inaccessible to predators. This remarkable color change is believed due to changes in moisture content of the cuticle, the outer layer of the insect body.
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| Tortoise Beetle can change color rapidly. |
As the pictures shows, the outer cuticle becomes transparent, revealing the underlying layer which is orange spotted with black, mimicking a ladybug which is unpalatable to most predators. Although it looks like a ladybug, this herbivorous beetle belongs to its own family, Cassidinae.
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| A ladybug resembles a Tortoise Beetle with is black-spotted cuticle. |
