Spotted tortoise beetle (Aspidimorpha miliaris)

Spotted tortoise beetle (Aspidimorpha miliaris) is a cosmopolitan insect in some families of Ipomoeaceae, Convolvuceae and Cucubitaceae plants. This species has perfect metamorphosis (holometabola) consisting of stages of eggs, larvae, pupae and imago.

The spotted tortoise beetle is about 15 millimeters long. Larva has gregarious habits. Imago uses wings to fly from leaf to leaf, but they prefer to walk quickly to navigate the surface and stalks to save energy.

A. miliaris performs a full cycle of 83-94 days in which the egg period to emergency pupa is 75-82 days and the pre-productive period is 8-12 days. Eggs are placed in groups in the ootheca and each group consists of 20 yellow-orange eggs. Females are able to produce 15 oothecas during life.

Eggs are oval, reddish yellow in ootheca grayish brown and last for 6-14 days. The pupa is yellowish, the back has black fur, lasting 10-14 days. Imago is shaped like a turtle with more yellow elitra.

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Family: Chrysomelidae
Subfamily: Cassidinae
Genus: Aspidimorpha
Species: A. miliaris

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