Golden tortoise beetle
The golden tortoise beetle is a tiny beetle that shines like a drop of real gold. The edges of its shell are see-through, so it looks like a little gold bead under a glass dome. If you touch it, it can slowly change from gold to reddish brown.
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Fun facts
Its colour also changes as it grows up and when it is looking for a mate.
Some golden tortoise beetles are reddish brown with black spots instead of gold.
The spiny larva carries a little umbrella of its old skins and poop on a fork on its tail end, which hides it from ants.
From a larva to a grown-up beetle takes only about a month.
Most asked questions about Golden tortoise beetle
?Why does the golden tortoise beetle change colour?
It changes from gold to reddish brown when it is disturbed, and also as it grows and when it looks for a mate.
?How big is the golden tortoise beetle?
Only about 5 to 7 millimetres long, smaller than a fingernail.
?What does the golden tortoise beetle eat?
Leaves of morning glory, bindweed and sweet potato.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Charidotella sexpunctata
- Group
- Beetles
- Family
- Chrysomelidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Coleoptera > Chrysomelidae
- Lives on
- North America, South America
- Also known as
- Goldbug
Where the facts come from
- Charidotella sexpunctata (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Ilona Loser. CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
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