Thistle tortoise beetle

20 Tuesday May 2025

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beetle egg-laying, bettle, British beetles, Cassida rubiginosa, Thistle tortoise beetle, tortoise beetles

Back in 2022, I blogged about this beetle’s bizarre larvae, the ones that carry their own poo above their backs as camouflage (see Thistle tortoise beetle larvae, July 2022). It’s taken me almost three years to spot an adult Thistle tortoise beetle (Cassida rubiginosa) but, now that I see how well they blend in to their thistle surroundings (no poo required), I understand why.

I also understand now why they’re called tortoise beetles, as their ‘shell’ really is tortoise-like. And, even better, if you look closely at the rear end of the beetle in the photo below right, you may be able to spot some tiny cream-coloured tubes – this beautiful beetle was a female and she was egg-laying.

Fleabane tortoise beetle larvae

08 Saturday Jun 2024

Posted by sconzani in insects, plants

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beetles on Common fleabane, British beetles, Cassida murraea, Cassidinae, Common fleabane, Fleabane tortoise beetle, Fleabane tortoise beetle larvae, tortoise beetles

If you’ve been here a while (for which, sincere thanks!), you might remember the bizarre larvae of the Thistle tortoise beetle that employ a faecal shield as a protective device, carrying their own excretions above their backs as a disguise (Thistle tortoise beetle larvae, 7 July 2022). Well, earlier this week, while checking the leaves of Common fleabane (Pulicaria dysenterica) for leafminers, I found another example of this behaviour.

240608 fleabane tortoise beetle larva (2)

These are Fleabane tortoise beetle larvae (Cassida murraea), which, like all other members of the tortoise beetle family, the Cassidinae, use a combination of their own frass and moulted skin, secretions and plant material to create the cryptic disguises they carry around behind and above their vulnerable bodies.

240608 fleabane tortoise beetle larva (1)

This particular species has not been recorded locally before and I’ve never seen the adult beetles so I’ll be poking about in the fleabane in the coming weeks to see if I can find any.