Margined leatherwing beetle
This beetle's soft, flexible wing covers resemble leather, and its predatory larvae can eat several egg masses of Colorado potato beetle or aphids in a single day.
| Where | Flowers in gardens and fields |
|---|---|
| Size | 9 to 16 mm body length |
| When | April to July |
This soldier beetle has an elongated, soft-bodied shape and orange coloring, with black markings on the pronotum that reach both the front and back edges and spread toward the head. The wing covers have the texture and flexibility of leather, which gives the family its common name.
Adults visit flowers such as hydrangea and New Jersey tea to feed on pollen and nectar in spring, while the predatory larvae live in soil and hunt soft-bodied insects, capable of eating several egg masses of Colorado potato beetle or aphids in a single day.
Traits
Habitat
Garden
Colour
Orange, Black
Active
Day
To people
A frequent flower visitor whose predatory larvae help control garden pests; poses no risk to people.
Activity through the year
Often confused with
The Pennsylvania leatherwing flies in autumn rather than spring and carries less black on its pronotum than the margined leatherwing.
Questions
Is the Margined leatherwing beetle dangerous to people?
A frequent flower visitor whose predatory larvae help control garden pests; poses no risk to people.
When can you see the Margined leatherwing beetle?
The Margined leatherwing beetle can be seen from April to July, by day.
Plate retouched from a photo by Chris, CC BY‑SA 4.0, iNaturalist Licence
The plate on this page is shared under the same licence as its source, CC BY-SA.
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Beetles›Soldier beetles›Chauliognathus
Last updated 2026-09-26. Every entry is checked against published sources.