Photographer Andreas Kay, who passed away in 2019, captured amazing slow footage of a beautifully flat-footed tortoise beetle as the cassidoid prepared to take flight into the green underbrush of the Amazon Forest in Ecuador. The beetle first righted each leg in a short dance before springing aloft into the humid jungle air.
Tortoise beetles, Cassidinae own their name to the carapace under which they can find shelter like a tortoise, with the difference that their carapace can open for flight. This species with the scientific name Stolas coalita is from the Amazon rainforest of Ecuador.
Our condolences to the Kay family for the loss of such a talented and caring person.
