Willow leaf beetle

The willow leaf beetle is a tiny, round, shiny beetle. It is usually metallic blue or green, and sometimes purple or black. It lives on willow and poplar trees, often near water.

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Fun facts
It spends the winter hiding under logs, loose bark and dead leaves near its tree, and wakes up in April.
Its larvae turn into pupae under the leaves of the willow.
On hot summer days the new beetles fly about and can end up far from their trees.
Ladybirds, hoverfly larvae and a blue shield bug all like to eat it.
Most asked questions about Willow leaf beetle
?What does the willow leaf beetle eat?
Leaves and pollen of willow and poplar trees.
?How big is the willow leaf beetle?
Tiny. It is only 2.5 to 5 millimetres long.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Plagiodera versicolora
- Group
- Beetles
- Family
- Chrysomelidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Coleoptera > Chrysomelidae
- Lives on
- Europe, North America
Where the facts come from
- Plagiodera versicolora (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 Udo Schmidt. CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
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