Coyote brush leaf beetle
The coyote brush leaf beetle is a shiny metallic green beetle from California. It lives on a bush called coyote brush and eats its leaves. Its bright colour is a warning to hungry birds: do not eat me.
How fast is it?
Fun facts
Both the beetles and their larvae are poisonous, because they take in chemicals from the coyote brush they eat.
Its larvae are metallic green too, just like the grown-ups.
It lays its eggs in the soil, and they wait there through the summer and winter before hatching.
When the larvae have eaten enough, they go back into the soil and change into beetles in about two weeks.
Most asked questions about Coyote brush leaf beetle
?Is the coyote brush leaf beetle poisonous?
Yes, to animals that eat it. It is harmless to touch, but never put it in your mouth.
?What does the coyote brush leaf beetle eat?
Mostly coyote brush leaves, but also some other plants such as goldenrod and sagebrush.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Trirhabda flavolimbata
- Group
- Beetles
- Family
- Chrysomelidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Coleoptera > Chrysomelidae
- Lives on
- North America
Where the facts come from
- Trirhabda flavolimbata (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Linda Tanner. CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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