 They are often colourful and metallic, with the ability to change the colour (and lost in specimens) which is present in the living tissue below the translucent cuticle.All members of the subfamily have the mouthparts reduced into a cavity in the head capsule, the legs have four segmented tarsi.The hispoids have larvae that are leaf miners, while the cassidoids feed on the plant surfaces, sometimes covering their bodies with faecal shields.