Onion beetle
The onion beetle is a small, shiny bright red beetle. Its head, back and legs are all red. It munches on onions, garlic, lilies and asparagus.
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Fun facts
Its larvae cover themselves with a sticky black coat made with their own poop, which helps protect them.
The beetle can make chirping sounds with a special part at the end of its body.
It looks like the lily beetle, but the lily beetle has black legs and a black head.
The beetles spend the winter in the soil and come out in April or May.
Most asked questions about Onion beetle
?What does the onion beetle eat?
Onions, garlic, lilies, asparagus and similar plants.
?How big is the onion beetle?
It is about 6 to 8 millimetres long.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Lilioceris merdigera
- Named by
- Linnaeus, 1758
- Group
- Beetles
- Family
- Chrysomelidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Coleoptera > Chrysomelidae
- Lives on
- Europe, Asia, South America, North America
Where the facts come from
- Lilioceris merdigera (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 Hectonichus. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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