Tortoise beetle

The "cassidines" have a rounded outline with the edges of the pronotum and elytra spreading out to cover the legs and head. Cassidines are often colourful and metallic, with the ability to change the colour (and lost in specimens) which is present in the living tissue below the translucent cuticle. The subfamily has the mouthparts reduced into a cavity in the head capsule, the legs have four segmented tarsi. Although these shields are thought to provide defense, no evidence exists for such a role.