Argus tortoise beetle
The Argus tortoise beetle is shaped like a tiny turtle and coloured like a ladybird, yellow to bright red with black spots. It is one of the biggest leaf beetles in North America. It can stretch its red head out from under its shield.
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Fun facts
It lays eggs on leaves in groups of 15 to 30, and they hatch within 10 days.
Its larvae drop to the soil to turn into pupae and spend the winter there.
It eats morning glory leaves, which have poison in them, and might keep the poison in its own body to stay safe from enemies.
Sometimes it eats a whole plant bare.
Most asked questions about Argus tortoise beetle
?Is the Argus tortoise beetle a ladybird?
No. It looks a bit like a ladybird, but it is a leaf beetle shaped like a little turtle.
?What does the Argus tortoise beetle eat?
Leaves of milkweed, morning glory, sweet potato, raspberry and other plants.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Chelymorpha cassidea
- Group
- Beetles
- Family
- Chrysomelidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Coleoptera > Chrysomelidae
- Lives on
- North America
- Also known as
- Milkweed tortoise beetle
Where the facts come from
- Chelymorpha cassidea (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 Kaldari. CC0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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