Taxonomy
- Polyphaga
- Chrysomeloidea
- Chrysomelidae
- Chrysolina
- Chrysolina americana
Common name
Rosemary Beetle
Images
Source: Roger Key
Source: Paul Mabbott
Source: Natural History Museum, London
Description
Size: 6.7-8.1mm
Basic colour: Dark metallic green with metallic red markings
Pattern colour: Dark metallic green background; metallic red markings on pronotum, plus metallic red longitudinal stripes on elytra.
Number of spots: None
Pronotoum: Dark metallic green with metallic red markings
Leg colour: Red
Confusion species: Chrysolina cerealis
Basic colour: Dark metallic green with metallic red markings
Pattern colour: Dark metallic green background; metallic red markings on pronotum, plus metallic red longitudinal stripes on elytra.
Number of spots: None
Pronotoum: Dark metallic green with metallic red markings
Leg colour: Red
Confusion species: Chrysolina cerealis
Native of southern Europe; in Britain, first recorded in Surrey in 1963. The RHS have a survey for this species here.
Biology
Status: Not threatened
Habitat: Gardens, plant nurseries, parks.
Host plant: Various Lamiaceae; especially rosemary and lavender, also sage and thyme
Overwintering: Unknown location, but adults do overwinter.
Food: Host plants; adults feed on leaves at the tips of shoots, larvae also feed on foliage.
Other notes: Elytra also has red margins, fine punctures in double rows and smooth intervals. Pronotum not punctured.
Habitat: Gardens, plant nurseries, parks.
Host plant: Various Lamiaceae; especially rosemary and lavender, also sage and thyme
Overwintering: Unknown location, but adults do overwinter.
Food: Host plants; adults feed on leaves at the tips of shoots, larvae also feed on foliage.
Other notes: Elytra also has red margins, fine punctures in double rows and smooth intervals. Pronotum not punctured.
Articles
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(2005), The rosemary leaf-beetle, Chrysolina americana (Linnaeus) (Chrysomelidae) reaches Kent where it feeds on garden sage The Coleopterist 14(1):38
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(2003), Further records of Chrysolina americana (Linnaeus) (Chrysomelidae) in Britain The Coleopterist 12(2):61