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Geiger Tree Tortoise Beetle

Physonota calochroma

Photo by The MnMs
Published on Project Noah
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12.2241, -68.3744

Field Notes

Description:

My husband also had an encounter with this iridescent turtle beetle.
And finally I have found its ID. It is the Geiger Tree tortoise beetle!
As described in the reference, formerly Physonota calochroma floridensis. Size: 8-11 mm. Live adults are brilliant lime green with a black spot in the middle of the pronotum.
In this book is mentioned that adults change colors, from wine-purple, green, to red-bronze or gold. In fact, these colours are constantly changing in the same specimen but when mating the colour remains light green.
http://www.springer.com/gp/book/9780792321859

Habitat:

Seen in Bonaire.
The species range is described as in Florida: from Palm Beach to Key West. However is widespread to the Caribbean, as long as they find their food source, the Geiger Tree (Cordia sebestena)

Notes:

First placed in the genus Eurypepla by Blake in 1966; listed under that genus by Borowiec in his World Catalog of Cassidinae in 1999.

Reference Links:

Iridescent tortoise beetle - Physonota calochroma - BugGuide.Net

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (17)
triggsturner
Oh wow! I missed this guy before. Belated congrats. Great spotting.
The MnMs
No but the trees are also in the Caribbean. They are planted as ornamental in gardens. And I think I read these trees are not endemic to Florida but also Caribbean widespread so is the accompanying beetle 🙂
AntónioGinjaGinja
Just beautiful MnMs,congrats on the well deserved SOTD and thanks for sharing
DanielePralong
Congratulations the MnMs, your iridescent tortoise beetle is our Spotting of the Day! It is also the first occurrence for this species on Project Noah. "This gorgeous iridescent Tortoise Beetle (Physonota calochroma) is our Spotting of the Day! Known as Geiger Tree Tortoise Beetle because of its association with the Geiger tree (Cordia sebestena, family Boraginaceae), Physonota calochroma is found in the Florida Keys, the West Indies, and Yuacatan. Tortoise beetles (family Chrysomelidae , subfamily Cassidinae) often have splendid metallic or iridescent hues, and are known for their ability to change color. Physonota may achieve this by modifying the thin film of water in their elytra responsible for producing interference colors and iridescence. These changes are active and reversible, and are likely to have an hormonal origin. Source: Novel aspects of the biology of Chrysomelidae, edited by Pierre H. Jolivet, M.L. Cox, E. Petitpierre, Springer Science 1994". Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/projectnoah/photos/a.10150595289465603.674700.10150120463815603/10160135255625603/?type=3&theater Twitter: https://twitter.com/projectnoah/status/970807414319730688
The MnMs
Thank you for the nice comments! Yes, and luckily my husband also had pics of this gorgeous beetle that are better looking than mine :-D ... I would have never imagined that they were associated to the Geiger tree and that they can actively change colors! :-)
maplemoth662
Beautiful photos....a beautiful Beetle....beautiful colors....

Spotted for Missions

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Wildlife of Bonaire
Mission
2018 Best Wildlife Photo
Photographed
PublishedMarch 4, 2018

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