Subject: gold beetle?
Location: Ojai, California
January 11, 2013 9:09 am
My brother found this in his garden in southern California. Any idea what it is?
Thanks for your time.
Signature: Jeff
Dear Jeff,
This is a Tortoise Beetle in the tribe Cassidinae. In trying to identify your species, the coloration looks most like the Anacua Tortoise Beetle, Coptocycla texana, a species BugGuide lists only in Texas. The markings look most like the Clavate Tortoise Beetle, Plagiometriona clavata, though we are not used to seeing this golden coloration in that species. Interestingly, while researching this on BugGuide, we found your photo and the current opinion there, as posted by Ron M is: “Although the golden shine… …doesn’t match any examples currently in the guide, I think it will be Clavate Tortoise Beetle (Plagiometriona clavata) but please wait for other opinions.”
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