HelpfulGardener.com

Hi,
I had this shinny gold bug land on my arm in early spring. I thought I was losing my mind. It was the purest gold color I have ever seen, it looked like a piece of jewelry. I took some pictures to prove to myself and others that I had really seen it. Has anyone else ever see this incredible bug? it looked like a solid gold lady bug. see pictures below (which do not do it justice)

[url=https://img204.imageshack.us/my.php?image=needtosendtofolks012ko0.jpg][img]https://img204.imageshack.us/img204/4339/needtosendtofolks012ko0.th.jpg[/img][/url][url=https://g.imageshack.us/thpix.php][img]https://img204.imageshack.us/images/thpix.gif[/img][/url]

[url=https://img235.imageshack.us/my.php?image=needtosendtofolks009sb1.jpg][img]https://img235.imageshack.us/img235/444/needtosendtofolks009sb1.th.jpg[/img][/url][url=https://g.imageshack.us/thpix.php][img]https://img235.imageshack.us/images/thpix.gif[/img][/url]

I haven't seen one myself, but I think what you have may be Metriona bicolor, family Chrysomelidae.

Ooh! I've seen them! They are beautiful aren't they?
They have a sort of coral undertones close up, but like you said, they look like a drop of pure gold!

oh I am so glad someone else has seen them. and yes they were breathtaking. I really did not believe what I was seeing.

Thank you Kisal for the bug id, that is exactly what it was. the site I was at said they can change colors and like to eat morning glory leaves. I have quite a few morning glory plants in my yard so I guess that is what attracted them. I sure hope they show up next year too.

I FOUND THEM!
I took pics too but didn't label or keyword them so it took forever to find! They were from July. Thanks for the bug ID -- now I can correctly label these photos. This one was on a Moonflower leaf (Ipomoea alba) - also in the morning glory family. (You can click on the photos to see them full-size)

[img]https://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll272/applesbucket/Image1519.jpg[/img]
A Drop of Gold on a Leaf?

[img]https://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll272/applesbucket/Image1522.jpg[/img]
Incredible Jewel Closeup

WOW, that bug gets more and more incredible. did you see it change color to pure gold? it looks like it has spots like the lady bugs do. thank you for sharing those photos. I will look for them next year and maybe I will see them looking like that too.

These look similar to what me and my sister used to catch when when we were a child in Seattle. The pictures posted here looks like a golden tortoise beetle according to what I have been looking up on the web. But from what I can remember the ones I caught looked just like the red ones we caught. Occasionaly we would catch orange ones too. We caught our fare share of gold ones and we would release them after a while. I remember just looking at them everytime I would catch them because they were so cool.

The ones we caught were a bright shiny gold with turqoise green dots on them. Yes the golden tortoise beetle has the same characteristics but like I said I caught so many of them and would just stare at them for so long that I know they looked just like a regular lady bug except for the color. The differences I notice is that the tortoise beetle has like a clear shell covering its entire body including the head and just slightly oblong. And they are supposed to change color when stressed or dead. The ones I caught did not have a clear shell covering it nor did they change color. And they were round like a ladybug and had a head just like them too. They looked EXACTLY like a regular lady bug. I would have red ones in a jar with them side by side to compare. Maybe they were a crossbreed or a mutation. Bug experts will probably say I am mistaken. Well are they the only ones that are allowed to see something new or different just becasue they went to school for it.

yup, tortoise beetle, chrysomelids...I've heard they can be damaging to some crops, but can't remember what at present.

If they like morning glories, they'll probably go for sweet potatoes... but they're TOO PRETTY to squish!

Wow! I have one too. My daughter and I were collecting leaves in our backyard on Sunday and we ended up bringing this bug into our house. I have never seen anything like it. So, thinking it was already dead I put it in a plastic baggy to look it up. Well I only got the time today to do any searching, so I went to get the bag with the bug in it and it was still "alive". This was 5 days ago I put this thing in the bag. Apparently it doesn't not need oxygen Mine also has the clear shell, but the top is brown with pure gold specks up at his head.

yep, seen these on the blackberry leaves just the other day. They are really an eye catcher.