Chrysolina herbacea (Duftschmid, 1825)

Taxonomy: Polyphaga > Chrysomeloidea > Chrysomelidae > Chrysolina > Chrysolina herbacea

Common name: 

Mint Leaf Beetle

Images

Chrysolina herbacea
Source:
John Walters

Description

Size: 7-11mm
Basic colour: Metallic bright green, sometimes with a gold-purple reflection; varies to golden-red to deep blue.
Pattern colour: None
Number of spots: None
Other colour forms: Sometimes
Pronotoum: As basic colour
Leg colour: As basic colour
Confusion species: Chrysolina graminis

Biology

Status: Widely scattered but mainly in central southern England.
Habitat: Various wet habitats
Host plant: Various Lamiaceae, especially mints.
Overwintering: Unknown location, but adults do overwinter.
Food: Leaves of host plants.
Other notes: Very similar to the rarer C. graminis, but elytral suture is metallic green or brassy.

Distribution (may take a minute to appear)