Eggplant tortoise beetle
Gratiana pallidula
The eggplant tortoise beetle is a small, flat beetle shaped a bit like a tortoise. Its front is light green and its wing cases are golden brown. Around the edges its wing cases are clear, like a little glass rim.
Lives in
North America and Central America
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It does not bite or sting people.
What does it eat?
It is a leaf beetle, so it eats plant leaves. Its name tells you it likes eggplant plants.
How fast is it?
A garden snail about 0.05 km/h (0.03 mph)
A tortoise about 0.3 km/h (0.19 mph)
Eggplant tortoise beetle about 0.5 km/h (0.31 mph)
A person walking about 5 km/h (3.1 mph)
cool stuff
Fun facts
1
The baby beetle carries a little shield made of its own poop on its back. It is a clever way to hide and stay safe.
2
When it is alive it is green and golden, but after it dies it turns mostly brown.
3
Its wing cases are covered in lots of tiny pits that sit in neat rows.
you asked
Most asked questions about Eggplant tortoise beetle
?Why is it called a tortoise beetle?
Because its flat, round back with wide edges looks a bit like a tortoise shell.
?Is the eggplant tortoise beetle dangerous?
No. It is a small plant eater and cannot hurt you.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Gratiana pallidula
- Group
- Beetles
- Family
- Chrysomelidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Coleoptera > Chrysomelidae
- Lives on
- North America
Where the facts come from
- Gratiana pallidula (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 Sam Droege from Beltsville, USA. Public domain, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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