Garden Pests and Diseases: Friend or Foe #2, 1 by Night_Bloom

Night_Bloom wrote:
fiatluxury - That's a good question. My guess is that like many beetles in that family, they don't taste very good to birds. As for other critters, I think the answer is in their shape. That "shell" that is shiny, also serves as protection. It covers over everything on the beetle including the antennae if the bettle pulls them in. They also have little gripping feet so when they clamp down on the leaf, the shell covers everything and makes them difficult to pick off the leaf surface. That shell and "ducking" behavior is why they are called tortoise beetles.


Just a couple quick ones tonight - I mentioned that the caterpillar of that long-tailed skipper above eats bean leaves. Here's what it looks like. The large head is typical of many skipper butterflies, and when the caterpillar is disturbed it "flicks" this head at you in an attempt to startle.