Golden Tortoise Beetle

Charidotella sexpunctata, the golden tortoise beetle, is a species of beetle in the leaf beetle family, Chrysomelidae. It is native to the Americas. Natural Enemies (Back to Top) The wasp parasitoid Tetrastichus cassidus Burks (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) and the fly parasitoid Eucelatoriopsis dimmocki (Aldrich) (Diptera: Tachinidae) are known to attack golden tortoise beetle. The Panamanian golden tortoise beetle looks gold because of the way light reflects off pockets of fluid in the layers of its outer shell, or exoskeleton. But when subjected to external stresses, the beetle has the rare ability to dry up that fluid — changing its color to dark red!

Scientific name: Charidotella sexpunctata

Higher classification: Charidotella

Rank: Species

Family: Chrysomelidae

Order: Coleoptera

Phylum: Arthropoda