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Tribe Cassidini - Tortoise Beetles

Thistle Tortoise Beetle - Cassida rubiginosa gold bug ? - Deloyala guttata Clavate Tortoise Beetle egg - Helocassis clavata Unknown larvae Golden Tortoise Beetle with green spots? - Charidotella sexpunctata beetle - Deloyala guttata Gratiana pallidula (Boheman) - Gratiana pallidula Tortoise beetle larva on Cirsium arvense - Cassida rubiginosa
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Coleoptera (Beetles)
Suborder Polyphaga
No Taxon (Series Cucujiformia)
Superfamily Chrysomeloidea (Longhorn and Leaf Beetles)
Family Chrysomelidae (Leaf Beetles)
Subfamily Cassidinae (Tortoise Beetles and the Hispines)
Tribe Cassidini (Tortoise Beetles)
Numbers
~30 spp. in 15 genera in our area, >1,700 spp. in ~90 genera worldwide (of which 46 in the New World)(1)(2)
Range
worldwide(2)
Food
hosts: various dicotyledons(1)
Life Cycle
The larvae carry their cast skins and fecal material attached to spines arising from the posterior end of their body, a structure called an "anal fork." The anal fork is movable, and is used to hold the debris over the back of the body, forming a "shield" which deters predation.
Internet References
J. N. Y. Entomol. Soc.. Review of the tortoise beetle genera of the tribe Cassidini
Works Cited
1.American Beetles, Volume II: Polyphaga: Scarabaeoidea through Curculionoidea
Arnett, R.H., Jr., M. C. Thomas, P. E. Skelley and J. H. Frank. (eds.). 2002. CRC Press LLC, Boca Raton, FL.
2.Cassidinae of the world - an interactive manual (by Lech Borowiec and Jolanta Świętojańska)