Tortoise Beetle

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. 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 . A ladybug resembles a Tortoise Beetle with is black-spotted cuticle.