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Few insects boast a truly gold-colored body. The Golden Tortoise Beetle is even more remarkable because it can actually change its coloring at will thanks to microscopic cavities in its cuticle that house pigmentation. The beetle's metallic sheen can be dulled, and that lovely gold can become brown. Upon death, the metallic glimmer fades. Like a tortoise, the body of the beetle is humped, or rounded, as if the wing coverings were actually a shell. The bottom edges of the beetle's eltyra are transparent, like glass.

Adult tortoise beetles use some unique features to protect themselves from predators. They can cover themselves with their clear pronotum and elytra, which are flanged plate-like structures that extend beyond their oval-shaped bodies. The hardened shell protects them much like a tortoise’s shell, hence the name tortoise beetle. This feature makes it difficult for predators to capture them. They can also evade predators by suddenly dropping off the leaf on which they are sitting. It is an effective “disappearing act.”

Fascinatingly, it also developed a very special relationship with certain flora. That’s because the unique invertebrate evolved to feed only on a specific family of plants, the Connolvulaceae. This family includes several species, including morning glories, bindweeds, and sweet potatoes. In fact, both the larvae and the adults feed on the foliage of these species exclusively. While not unknown, this characteristic remains uncommon enough to garner great interest among researchers. This case, therefore, makes for a rather fascinating example of coevolution.

In the attached video you can see it change color. When a golden tortoise beetle is agitated or under attack from a predator, it contracts the spaces between the layers of cuticle and forces liquid out of the grooves — doing away with the iridescence and usually revealing a brownish-orange color.

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