One Cool Dude

You know you've firmly crossed over into the land of Geekdom when you get excited about finding a bunch of tiny beetles busily eating something in your garden.  In truth, I am usually excited when I see evidence of things eating plants in my garden (with a few exceptions - like slugs and Japanese Beetles).  I have intentionally included plants that are host plants in my native garden which ultimately means that if they are being eaten, I've achieved success.  Funny thing about this particular plant is that it was not something I paid much attention to when I poked a few seeds into a pot this spring.  I'd been given several packets of sweet pea seeds by a friend and figured, what the heck - why not?

Okay, so I know you are dying to find out what the insect is!  It's a Clavate Tortoise Beetle (species Plagiometriona) and they are are a species I've only found twice before today.  They are quite small, about 1/4 inch and have the most interesting shell I've ever seen on a beetle.  As you may be able to see here, the hard outer shell is clear with a darker structure housing the wings underneath.  And, they can retract their legs under the outer shell, just like a tortoise. Anyhoooo, there were at least a half dozen of them on the plant so I hauled my tripod out and got some fairly decent shots.   

It's hot today and the breeze that was up earlier has now disappeared so I am planning to spend the afternoon indoors where its nice and cool.  I have several things I need to attend to in the office, so today's a good day for that.

Back to dark with coconut today.

Stay safe!

xo
Debbi