Diet

• Adults: Primarily herbivorous, feeding on leaves and tender plant tissues.

• The principal host plants of P. alutacea are not well established. Members of Physonota commonly feed on woody and herbaceous plants, and adults are generally found directly on their host foliage.

• Larvae: Feed on the foliage of their host plant. The larval biology of P. alutacea is comparatively poorly documented.

Range

• Physonota alutacea is a tortoise beetle in the family Chrysomelidae, occurring from Mexico through Central America and into South America.

• The species is well established in the Zihuatanejo area and is included among the tortoise beetles recorded locally.

• Around Zihuatanejo, it is best considered occasional to fairly common, particularly where suitable broad-leaved vegetation is present.

Habitat

• Found in tropical dry forest, tropical deciduous forest, woodland, scrub, forest edges and secondary vegetation.

• Around Zihuatanejo, look carefully on broad-leaved shrubs and small trees, particularly in sunny forest margins and areas of dense vegetation.

• Adults can sit quietly on the upper or lower surfaces of leaves and may be surprisingly difficult to notice because their mottled colouring blends with foliage.

• The species has also been recorded in dry tropical environments and shrubland, consistent with the vegetation around Zihuatanejo.

Size

• Adult length: approximately 10–12 mm (0.4–0.47 in). A documented specimen measures about 12 mm.

• Body broadly oval, convex and somewhat flattened, with the expanded margins characteristic of tortoise beetles.

• The upper surface is generally yellowish, olive, bronze or brownish, with darker mottling and spots.

• The pronotum and elytra form a broad shield over the head and legs when viewed from above.