There has been little investigation of communication abilities, but it is known that the fecal shields emit chemical deterents to some predators.
Communication Channels: visual ; chemical
Perception Channels: visual ; chemical
This species has no current status.
US Federal List: no special status
CITES: no special status
State of Michigan List: no special status
Development is typical for tortoise beetles. Eggs are laid on host plants, hatching several days later. The larva develops through about 5 to 6 instars before pupating, often on the host plant.
Development - Life Cycle: metamorphosis ; diapause
Plagiometriona clavata has potential to evolve further to feed extensively on a larger variety of solanaceous plants, therefore becoming a pertinent agricultural pest.
Negative Impacts: crop pest
Plagiometriona clavata could possibly be studied and used as a chemical control for insect pests. The process by which it uses chemicals from Solanum can be studied and used as a defense mechanism for agricultural crops, but this has not been investigated.
Plagiometriona clavata feeds on many Solanum plants, as well as several other solanaceous plant species. However, it does not create enough damage to have an economic effect. It also serves as a prey item for several different Arthropod predators.
Species Used as Host:
Plagiometriona clavata feeds on several species of nightshade including Solanum dulcamara, S. americanum, S. carolinense, S. lycopersicum, S. pseudogracile, and S. tuberosum. Other solanaceous hosts include Capsicum sp., Datura wrightii, and D. stramonium. It eats the leaves of these plants.
Plant Foods: leaves
Primary Diet: herbivore (Folivore )
Plagiometriona clavata is native to the Nearctic region. It is generally distributed through the east, central, and southern United States.
Biogeographic Regions: nearctic (Native )
These leaf beetles are generally found on agricultural farms or suburban and urban gardens where solanaceous plants are grown. They can also be found sparsely in the wild where species of Solanum grow, usually in grasslands, meadows, and forests.
Habitat Regions: terrestrial
Terrestrial Biomes: savanna or grassland ; chaparral ; forest ; scrub forest
Other Habitat Features: urban ; suburban ; agricultural
The adult lifespan of this species has not been documented, but if typical of other tortoise beetles, it would be a few weeks in the summer.
Adults have large elytra and pronotum, creating a shield over the entire body. The head is covered by this shield when observed from the top. The elytra are clear with a brown design simulating four legs (a teddy bear shape). The elytra are tuberculate, have a post-scutellar protuberance, and the anterior elytral margins are crenulate. The venter of the pronotum does not have grooves. The tarsal claws are appendiculate. The antennae are long and narrow, with the 8th segments distinctly longer than wide.
Other Physical Features: ectothermic ; heterothermic ; bilateral symmetry
Sexual Dimorphism: sexes alike
Plagiometriona clavata is known to be preyed upon by ants, predatory Hemiptera, spiders and beetles as a larvae. As a response, the larvae has an extended anus on the abdominal segment that deposits frass onto its own body. This evidently does little to disguise larvae, but it does seem to repel potential predators by chemical cues. This defense mechanism uses the allelochemicals in their diet to create a chemical shield, partially warding off predators.
Known Predators:
Anti-predator Adaptations: aposematic
Nothing is currently known about mating in this species.
It is assumed that mating in this species is similar to other known tortoise beetles. Adults mate and females lay eggs on the host plant. In the north, there is a single brood, but the species is multiple-brooded in the south.
Breeding interval: P. clavata breeds once per summer in the north and 2 or more times in the south.
Breeding season: Breeding occurs during the spring and summer for this species.
Key Reproductive Features: seasonal breeding ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual ; fertilization (Internal ); oviparous
Nothing is known about parental investment in this species. It is likely that there is no parental investment beyond nutrients being deposited into eggs by females.
Parental Investment: pre-hatching/birth (Provisioning: Female)
