Green dock beetle
During the breeding season, females swell so much with eggs that their wing cases are pushed apart and can no longer meet over the abdomen.
| Where | Grassland, verges and dock patches |
|---|---|
| Size | 4 to 7 mm long |
| When | April to September |
The green dock beetle is a small, shiny metallic green beetle, sometimes showing a gold, bronze or blue sheen in sunlight, with serrated antennae that darken towards the tip.
Adults and larvae feed on the leaves of docks and sorrel, often skeletonising them in patches. Females swell so much with eggs in the breeding season that their wing cases can no longer close over the abdomen.
Traits
Habitat
Grassland
Colour
Green, Metallic
Active
Day
To people
Harmless; it does not bite or sting people.
Activity through the year
Often confused with
The knotweed leaf beetle has a metallic blue-green body but a contrasting reddish-orange pronotum, unlike the green dock beetle, which is a uniform metallic green all over.
Questions
Is the Green dock beetle dangerous to people?
Harmless; it does not bite or sting people.
When can you see the Green dock beetle?
The Green dock beetle can be seen from April to September, by day.
Plate retouched from a photo by Francisco Welter-Schultes, CC0, Wikimedia Commons Licence
Report a mistake in this entry
Beetles›Leaf beetles›Gastrophysa
Last updated 2026-09-26. Every entry is checked against published sources.