Species

Alderflies, Dobsonflies, and Fishflies

Antlions, Lacewings, and Allies

Ants, Bees, Wasps, and Sawflies

Barklice, Booklice, and Parasitic Lice

Grasshoppers, Crickets, and Katydids

Mayflies

Moths

Praying Mantises

Scorpionflies, Hangingflies, and Allies

Stoneflies

True Bugs, Hoppers, Aphids, and Allies

clavate tortoise beetle

(Helocassis clavata)

Information
Photos
Slideshows
Videos
Sightings

Conservation • Description • Habitat • Biology • Distribution • Taxonomy

Conservation Status

Photo by Alfredo Colon

IUCN Red List

not listed

NatureServe

NNR - Unranked

Minnesota

not listed


	Description
	Clavate tortoise beetle is fairly common in North and Central America. In the United States it occurs from the northeast to the Great Plains. It is easily recognized by the wrinkled upper surface with a dark teddy bear-like pattern. Adults are tortoise-shaped, ¼″ to 5 ⁄16″ (6.5 to 7.5 mm) long, 3 ⁄16″ to ¼″ (5.5 to 6.3 mm) wide, oval when viewed from above, and convex when viewed from the side. The female is larger than the male. The upper thoracic plate (pronotum) and hardened wing covers (elytra) are green and translucent. The edges are spread out, flattened, and thin, and extend over the head and legs. The front (anterior) edge of the pronotum is broadly rounded. A large, opaque, dark brown spot covers most of the elytra and extends onto the pronotum. The spot resembles a teddy bear, with the the teddy bear’s “head” on the pronotum and the front and hind “legs” reaching the elytral margins. The plate between the wing bases (scutellum) is also dark brown. There is also at least some gold coloration adjacent to the edges of the brown spot. The upper surface of the elytra is very rough with wrinkles, rounded projections, and a prominent peak in the middle behind the scutellum. The head is completely concealed when viewed from above. The eyes are not notched. The antennae are long but less than half as long as the body. They are mostly pale but some of the terminal segments are black. Segment 3 is slightly longer than segment 2, and segment 8 is distinctly longer than wide. The antennae are extended when at rest. There is no groove on the underside of the prothorax for them to be tucked into. The plate on the face above the mouth (clypeus) is completely horizontal. The last part of each leg (tarsus), corresponding to the foot, has five segments. The fourth segment is very short and is concealed within the broadened tip of the third segment, making the tarsus appear to have only four segments. The last segment bears a pair of claws. The dilation at the base of each claw is angular.

	Size
	Total length: ¼″ to 5 ⁄16″

	Similar Species



	Habitat



	Biology
	Season


	Behavior
	Adults eat round holes in the leaves. The larvae carry dried fecal matter over their body, presumably as a form of camouflage. The fecal matter is attached to a forked appendage on the last abdominal segment, and is held suspended over the body.

	Life Cycle


	Larva Food


	Adult Food
	Groundcherry (Physalis spp.) and nightshade (Solanum spp.)


	Distribution
			Sources 24, 29, 30, 82.
	6/16/2022

	Occurrence
	Fairly common


	Taxonomy
	Order	Coleoptera (beetles)
	Suborder	Polyphaga (water, rove, scarab, long-horned, leaf, and snout beetles)
	Infraorder	Cucujiformia
	Superfamily	Chrysomeloidea (leaf beetles and allies)
	Family	Chrysomelidae (leaf beetles)
	Subfamily	Cassidinae (tortoise and hispine beetles)
	Tribe	Cassidini (tortoise beetles)
	Genus	Helocassis

	In World Catalogue of the Cassidinae, published in 1999, Polish taxonomist Lech Borowie proposed transferring eight species from the genus Plagiometriona to the new genus Helocassis. The move was then and now remains controversial. Most North American sources reject the move. Two notable exceptions are Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) and iNaturalist. A discussion on BugGuide.net gives a detailed – even exhaustive – explanation of their reasoning for rejecting the move in 2005. However, by 2022, BugGuide had accepted the move. NatureServe continues to use the name Plagiometriona clavata for this species. Tortoise Beetle Taxonomy

	Subordinate Taxa
	clavate tortoise beetle (Helocassis clavata clavata) clavate tortoise beetle (Helocassis clavata testudinaria)

	Synonyms
	Cassida clavata Coptocycla testudinaria Plagiometriona clavata

	Common Names
	clavate tortoise beetle translucent tortoise beetle

Glossary

Clypeus

On insects, a hardened plate on the face above the upper lip (labrum).

Elytra

The hardened or leathery forewings of beetles used to protect the fragile hindwings, which are used for flying. Singular: elytron.

Pronotum

The exoskeletal plate on the upper side of the first segment of the thorax of an insect.

Scutellum

The exoskeletal plate covering the rearward (posterior) part of the middle segment of the thorax in some insects. In Coleoptera, Hemiptera, and Homoptera, the dorsal, often triangular plate behind the pronotum and between the bases of the front wings. In Diptera, the exoskeletal plate between the abdomen and the thorax.

Tarsus

On insects, the last two to five subdivisions of the leg, attached to the tibia; the foot. On spiders, the last segment of the leg. Plural: tarsi.


	Visitor Photos

	Share your photo of this insect.
			This button not working for you? Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com. Attach one or more photos and, if you like, a caption.


	Alfredo Colon














	Laurie Olesen

	Hello. I don't know if you are still keeping track of these little things. But I found one at Boot Lake SNA yesterday. Anoka County, MN.


	Thomas Dilliplane

	Found outdoors in back yard.






	MinnesotaSeasons.com Photos

Camera


	Slideshows


	Clavate Tortoise Beetle (Plagiometriona clavata) Andree Reno Sanborn

slideshow


	Visitor Videos

	Share your video of this insect.
		This button not working for you? Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com. Attach a video, a YouTube link, or a cloud storage link.










	Other Videos


	Tortoise Beetle seahue

	About Published on May 26, 2012 Behold my first Clavate Tortoise Beetle! I have seen this interesting insect in my insect book for decades and FINALLY get to see a real one. Of course, as with any unique looking insect, I only found ONE.

Camcorder


Visitor Sightings

Report a sighting of this insect.
		This button not working for you? Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com. Be sure to include a location.



Alfredo Colon 8/20/2022	Location: Albany, NY



Anne Peckham 9/9/2022	Location: Peterborough Ontario Canada



Alfredo Colon 8/17/2022	Location: Albany, NY



Alfredo Colon 8/8/2022	Location: Albany, NY



Alfredo Colon 8/6/2022	Location: Albany, NY



Alfredo Colon 6/3/2021	Location: Woodbury, MN



Laurie Olesen 5/27/2022	Location: Boot Lake SNA, Anoka County, MN Hello. I don't know if you are still keeping track of these little things. But I found one at Boot Lake SNA yesterday. Anoka County, MN.



Thomas Dilliplane 6/5/2021	Location: Media, Pennsylvania 19063 Found outdoors in back yard.



Wendy Steele 6/8/2020	Location: Brooklyn Park MN I've seen many on my potato leaves in the garden. Today I was pulling weeds, sweaty and dirty and my daughter said, "mom, you have some dirt or something on your face". I went to brush it away and it was attached. It felt hard, like one of these beetles and it left a bloody spot on my face. Right now it itches and is inflamed. Are they known to bite? Also, how do they reproduce?

John Valo 6/9/2020	As to the first question, I don’t know about tortoise beetles specifically, but some beetles do bite. Here is a link from Terminix: ARE BEETLES ABLE TO BITE? As to the second question... in the usual manner.



Alfredo Colon 7/12/2018	Location: Woodbury, Minnesota



MinnesotaSeasons.com Sightings