Rosemary beetle
Its scientific name means American, yet the rosemary beetle has never been native to the Americas, being native instead to southern Europe and the Mediterranean.
| Where | Gardens with rosemary and lavender |
|---|---|
| Size | 5 to 8 mm long |
| When | March to October |
It is unmistakable up close: the wing cases carry bold, glossy stripes of metallic green alternating with purple or bronze, on a body about the size of a small ladybird.
Adults and larvae both feed on rosemary, lavender and other aromatic Lamiaceae, and can strip a plant's new growth when numbers build up.
Traits
Habitat
Garden
Colour
Metallic, Green
Active
Day
To people
Harmless to people; can damage rosemary and lavender plants
Activity through the year
Often confused with
The mint leaf beetle is a slightly larger, more uniformly metallic green or gold-purple beetle, without the rosemary beetle's bold alternating green and purple stripes.
Questions
Is the Rosemary beetle dangerous to people?
Harmless to people; can damage rosemary and lavender plants.
When can you see the Rosemary beetle?
The Rosemary beetle can be seen from March to October, by day.
Plate retouched from a photo by Lamiot, CC BY‑SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons Licence
The plate on this page is shared under the same licence as its source, CC BY-SA.
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Beetles›Leaf beetles›Chrysolina
Last updated 2026-09-26. Every entry is checked against published sources.