238 



INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETABLES 



a week or a few days longer the larvae hatch and assist the 

 beetles in their work of destruction. Indications are that all of 

 these tortoise beetles are single-brooded, hibernation taking 

 place in the adult stage. 



The Golden Tortoise Beetle (Coptocycla bicolor Fab.) is the 

 most striking of the tortoise beetles, and well known and destruc- 

 tive. In this form (fig. 151) the entire body is golden with 

 exception of the borders ; that is, when the insect 

 is resting on leaves exposed to the sun. If a 

 specimen be captured the colors fade to a dull, 

 deep orange, sometimes with a few golden spots 

 remaining, and two black spots are noticed near 

 the middle of the insect. The size varies from 

 two-twelfths to three-twelfths of an inch. The 



Fig. 152.-Golden , ,,. . • << 



tortoise beetle larva (o) cames Its pack directly over the 

 egg. Much en- back, and the excrement is arranged in a more 



larged. (After * 



Riley.) or less regular three-lobed pattern. 



The Mottled Tortoise Beetle (Coptocycla guttata 

 01.). — This species is about equally as common and of the same 

 size as the golden tortoise beetle. It is shown in its various 

 stages in figure 153. It differs in having the elytral ground color 



Fig. 153.— Mottled tortoise beetle, a, larva; b. pupa; c, beetle. (After Riley) 



black, extending at the shoulders on each side. Sometimes it is 

 flecked with gold and at other times with yellow. The larva 

 (a) is green, with a bluish shade down the back. It carries 

 its excrement and cast skins in irregular broad masses, fre- 



