Common malachite beetle
Its shining green elytra each carry a bold red spot near the tip, and males have unusual orange pouches along their sides used during courtship.
| Where | Meadows, hedgerows and flowering grassland |
|---|---|
| Size | 5 to 7 mm body length |
| When | April to July |
The Common malachite beetle has a brownish head and pronotum, with shining metallic green elytra and a bright red spot near the tip of each.
Adults feed on pollen and nectar and also prey on small insects while visiting flowers such as umbellifers and daisies, mainly in meadows during spring and early summer.
Traits
Habitat
Grassland
Colour
Green, Red
Active
Day
To people
Does not bite or sting; regularly seen feeding openly on flowers in daylight.
Activity through the year
Often confused with
Slightly smaller at 4 to 6 mm and more uniformly blue green, lacking the reddened front corners of the pronotum seen in the Common malachite beetle.
Questions
Is the Common malachite beetle dangerous to people?
Does not bite or sting; regularly seen feeding openly on flowers in daylight.
When can you see the Common malachite beetle?
The Common malachite beetle can be seen from April to July, by day.
Plate retouched from a photo by Charles J. Sharp, 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›Soft-winged flower beetles›Malachius
Last updated 2026-09-26. Every entry is checked against published sources.