For the identification of insects and other fauna and flora of South Africa.

Saturday, November 24, 2012

Spotted Tortoise Beetle (Conchyloctenia punctata)

Family Chrysomelidae

They are common in South Africa and can vary from a copper colour to orange or red.

They are smallish, about 12mm in length.
 The front portion is a reddish brown unlike most other tortoise beetle which have an almost clear ridge around it.

The eggs are laid on the underside of the leaf and hatch after about two weeks, the pupa being white with black markings.

Beetle larvae stack their excreta (the long thin, black filaments) as well as cast off skins onto a thin, fork-like appendage near the muscular anus. This forms the “tail” of the larva.