Texas Beetle Information

Return to Texas Entomology - Compiled by Mike Quinn


Southern Golden Tortoise Beetle

Charidotella sexpunctata sexpunctata (Fabricius)

Family Chrysomelidae, Subfamily Cassidinae, Tribe Cassidini


 

Southern Golden Tortoise Beetle - Charidotella s. sexpunctata (Fabricius)

(disturbed adult (undisturbed adults are golden))

Santa Ana NWR, Alamo, Hidalgo Co., Texas 
July 20, 1998 (M Quinn)


State Records for Charidotella sexpunctata bicolor

Southern Golden Tortoise Beetle - Charidotella s. sexpunctata (Fabricius)

State Record Data per Riley et al, 2003


Range: Charidotella sexpunctata is transcontinental and extends southward into South America.

Host: Convolvulaceae Family, primarily Ipomoea spp. (Clark et al, 2004)

Similar Species: There are seven species of Charidotella (in two subgenera) north of Mexico. (Riley et al, 2003)

Texas Taxa:

Charidotella emarginata (Boheman) - Arizona to Texas, south to Central America
Charidotella purpurata (Boheman) - Rocky Mountains eastward
Charidotella sexpunctata bicolor
(Fabricius) - Widely distributed across North America, north of Mexico.
Charidotella sexpunctata sexpunctata (Fabricius) - Texas, Mexico, West Indies, Central and South America.
Charidotella succinea (Boheman) - Arizona to Colorado and Texas, south to Panama.

Weblinks

Tortoise Beetle - TAMU
Charidotella (=Metriona) bicolor (Fabricius) - John Capinera, University of Florida

Photos:

Golden Tortoise Beetle - Charidotella sexpunctata - Lynette Schimming
Golden Tortoise Beetle Larva - Charidotella sexpunctata - Lynette Schimming

Biography: Johan Christian Fabricius (1745-1808), Danish botanist and entomologist - Wikipedia


References:

Arnett, R.H., Jr., M.C. Thomas, P.E. Skelley & J.H. Frank. (editors). 2002. American Beetles, Volume II: Polyphaga: Scarabaeoidea through Curculionoidea. CRC Press LLC, Boca Raton, FL. xiv + 861 pp.

Barber, H.S. 1916. A review of the North American tortoise beetles (Chrysomelidae; Cassidae). Proceedings of the Entomology Society of Washington 43:113-127.

Barrows, E.M., 1979. Life cycles, mating, and color change in tortoise beetles (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Cassidinae). Coleopterists Bulletin 33: 9–16.

Blackwelder, R. E., 1946. Checklist of the Coleopterous insects of Mexico, Central America, the West Indies, and South America, part 4. Bull. Smithson. Inst. USNM, 185: 733-757.

Buzzi, Z.J. 1994. Host plants of Neotropical Cassidinae. Pp. 205-212. in: P.H. Jolivet, M.L. Cox., E. Petitpierre. (editors) Novel aspects of the biology of Chrysomelidae. Kluver Academic Publishers, Dordrecht.

Clark, S.M., D.G. LeDoux, T.N. Seeno, E.G. Riley, A.J. Gilbert and J.M. Sullivan. 2004. Host plants of leaf beetle species occurring in the United States and Canada (Coleoptera: Megalopodidae, Orsodacnidae, Chrysomelidae exclusive of Bruchinae). Coleopterists Society, Special Publication no. 2, 476 pp.

Olmstead, K.L., & Denno, R.F. 1992. Cost of shield defense for tortoise beetles (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae). Environmental Entomology 17: 237-243.

Olmstead, K.L., & Denno, R.F. 1993. Effectiveness of tortoise beetle larval shields against different predator species. Ecology 74: 1394 1405.

Orton, W.A. & F.H. Chittenden. 1917. Control of diseases and insect enemies of the home vegetable garden. USDA Farmer's Bull., 856: 1-72.

Riley, E.G. 1986. Review of the tortoise beetle genera of the tribe Cassidini occurring in America North of Mexico (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Cassidinae). J. New York Entomol. Soc., 94: 98-114.

Riley, E.G., Clark, S.M., Flowers, R.W., Gilbert, A.J., 2002. 124. Chrysomelidae Latreille 1802. Pp. 617-691. in: R.H. Arnett, M.C. Thomas, P.E. Skelley, J.H. Frank (editors) American Beetles, Volume 2, Polyphaga: Scarabaeoidea through Curculionoidea. CRC Press, Boca Raton.

Riley, E.G., Clark, S.M., Gilbert, A.J., 2001. New records, nomenclatural changes, and taxonomic notes for select North American leaf beetles (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae). Insecta Mundi, 15: 1-17.

Riley, E.G., S.M. Clark, & T.N. Seeno. 2003. Catalog of the leaf beetles of America north of Mexico (Coleoptera: Megalopodidae, Orsodacnidae and Chrysomelidae, excluding Bruchinae). Coleopterists Society, Special Publication no. 1, 290 pp.

Riley, E.G. & W.R Enns. 1979. An annotated checklist of Missouri leaf beetles (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae). Trans. Missouri Acad. Scien., Biol. Scien., 13: 53-83.

Schaeffer, C. 1933. Notes on some Hispini and Cassidini and descriptions of new species (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae). Pan-Pacific Entomol., 9: 103-109.

Wilcox, J.A. 1975. Chrysomelidae. in: R.H. Arnett Jr., Checklist of the beetles of North and Central America and the West Indies. North American Beetle Fauna Series. Flora & Fauna Publications, Gainesville, 166 pp.


08 Dec 2008 © Mike Quinn / Texas Entomology / Texas Beetle Information