I found these insects 4 weeks ago in Hyderabad, India. What are these spiny critters? And can anybody differentiate the male and female? One on the top appears much smaller in size than the one below. I couldn't get a clear shot of them. They were very tiny and were moving away from me as I pushed my camera into their faces.
thanks
deadmanswill
here's the one to scale. Sorry I couldn't get better pics. I just have a normal digital camera not an SLR.
These might be leaf beetles (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), but I must admit that I have never seen any members of this family with such bizarre ornamentation. However, I just came across the following images of two species in the subfamily Hispinae - see http://farm1.static.flickr.com/41/82218355_160458f459.jpg?v=0 and http://www.biol.uni.wroc.pl/cassidae/European%20Chrysomelidae/Iconography/Polyconia%20caroli.jpg
This message was edited Sep 6, 2008 12:29 PM
Wow those critters look just like the ones I posted. Thanks for the info.
Hi All,
I've posted series of images at my blog on these insects mating. It shows in detail their mating process. You can check them out at http://grasslords.blogspot.com/2008/09/leaf-beetles-mating.html
thanks and cheers
deadmanswill
