So here goes:
Green Dock Beetle (Gastrophysa viridula) |
- They have an amazing metallic sheen to their shells which can look golden, blue, green or purple depending on the light.
- They are between 4 and 7 mm in length - males tend to be at the smaller end of the scale and females tend to be at the bigger end.
- Generally spotted anywhere near to Dock leaves, by verges, ponds, woods etc, so widely spread throughout the UK and generally seen throughout May and June
- They were originally only found in Alpine areas of Europe but from the 20th Century they became more widespread.
- They have babies generally 2 to 4 times a year.
You can see the wing cases don't fit as she's pregnant! |
- The female lays 100-600 tiny yellow eggs on the underneath of leaves which develop into larvae. These then feed until they are big enough to dig down into the soil and pupate. After 6-9 days a new beetle emerges and the cycle starts again.
- They are diurnal which means active during the day,
- In late autumn they start eating a lot more than usual so that they are stocked up over the winter, and bury down again into the soil where they will stay until the spring.
- Their natural predators are frogs and birds.
- There are about 20,000 species of leaf beetle throughout the world! And there may be as many as 3 million species of beetle in the world...
- Beetles are in fact the largest species on earth! One in four of every living thing (including plants!) is a beetle! Wow I did not know that!
Hope the photo's are ok, they're off an iphone today |
- Beetles vary in size dramatically, from just 0.25mm for the Fringed Ant Beetle, to a colossal 20 cm for the Titanus Giganteus ..... :-/
- They are easily recognisable because they look as though they are wearing body armour - and they are - because their hard shells protect their soft underbellies :)
So that`s a quick summary of the Green Dock Leaf Beetle, with a few other beetley facts thrown in! If you want to find out more look at:
And for a great little (bit random!) video featuring "Constable Beetle" my mum found on youtube check out (the bit you want is about 2 minutes in to this clip) :
She says there was TV programme years ago called Squawkie Talkie that was a sort of spoof nature programme, it had the song "beetle beetle beetle of the yard, beetle beetle his shell is very hard" about a policeman beetle (?!) that mum and dad used to love but could never find to show me - until now!! Does anybody else remember this or are my parents completely mad?!
She says there was TV programme years ago called Squawkie Talkie that was a sort of spoof nature programme, it had the song "beetle beetle beetle of the yard, beetle beetle his shell is very hard" about a policeman beetle (?!) that mum and dad used to love but could never find to show me - until now!! Does anybody else remember this or are my parents completely mad?!
Hope you enjoyed.
Z
Amazing photos here Zach, these beetles are beautiful! - Tasha
ReplyDeleteLove them too Tasha - they are really eyecatching - wonder how they survive being so bright!
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