THISTLE TORTOISE BEETLE

Anna found one of these little bright green Leaf Beetles on her phone brochure on our picnic yesterday (as in the changed time and date of this post).
It looks a bit like a tiny geen Tortoise (but with antennae!) , and is in fact closely related to the more common Green Tortoise Beetle.

This beetle though, can be distinguished from the similar Green Tortoise Beetle, by looking around its elytra (wing cases). The Thistle Tortoise Beetle has what looks like a red/brown "Y" shape on its back, whereas the Green Tortoise Beetle lacks this, and is just bright green. The Thistle Tortoise Beetle looks like its wing cases are suffering from a bit of rust really - thats the best way to describe it!

These beetles are not rare, and as their name suggests, like to chow down on Thistles. They are quite sweet little things, about 7mm long, which clamp down onto a surface when disturbed, pulling their antennae and legs tight in under their "shell", like a tortoise. When ready to move off again, they raise their shell up, extend their legs and antennae and tip-toe off. A bit like one of those old Citroen cars which raised up, before moving off!