''Chrysolina herbacea'', also known as the mint leaf beetle,
or green mint beetle (in the UK),
is a species of
beetle
Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...
in the family
Chrysomelidae.
Description
The species is green, with black legs and
antennae. Females can range in colour from green to purplish grey.
It can be 8-10 mm long and has black coloured
larvae,
which also feed on mint leaves.
They are active between May to September.
[Bob Gibbons ]
Visually it may be confused with the much rarer
tansy beetle
The tansy beetle (''Chrysolina graminis'') is a species of leaf beetle. It measures 7.7–10.5 mm in length and has a characteristic bright metallic green colouration. The common name derives from the tansy plant on which they often feed ...
(''Chrysolina graminis'').
Distribution
It can be found in
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
,
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
,
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...
,
Ireland, the
Caucasus
The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia (country), Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range ...
,
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
, and western
Central Asia
Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...
.
Habitat
It prefers to live in damp riverside areas and in Marshy fields.
[
]
References
External links
Video of species mating
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2667294
Beetles described in 1825
Chrysomelinae
Taxa named by Caspar Erasmus Duftschmid