Meet The Golden Tortoise Beetle – Treasure With Legs (Video + 5 Pics)

Eggs: The eggs are attached singly to the underside of leaves or on stems, and are white in color. The eggs are oval and flattened. They measure only about 1 mm in length and hatch in five to 10 days. Eggs are deposited in clusters of about 20 eggs. Larvae: Larvae are broad and flattened and adorned with branched spines. Their thoracic legs are short and thick, and unlike many chrysomelids they lack an anal proleg. The color of the larva is yellowish to reddish-brown. There are three larval instars. The larvae display the habit of carrying their cast skins and fecal material attached to spines arising from the posterior end of their body, a structure called an anal fork. The anal fork is movable, and is usually used to hold the debris over the back of the body, forming a shield which deters predation. Larvae mature in 14 to 21 days. Here is a video on YouTube from the Terra Explorer Project of a larva creating a fecal shield.