Blue Metalmark vs Great Spruce Bark Beetle

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Blue Metalmark Great Spruce Bark Beetle
Scientific Name Lasaia sula Dendroctonus micans
Order Lepidoptera Coleoptera
Family Riodinidae Curculionidae (Scolytinae)
Size 18-22 mm wingspan 6–9 mm
Habitat Forests Forests
Diet Omnivores Wood Feeders
Regions South Texas, Mexico, Central America Europe, Western Asia
Conservation Least Concern Not Evaluated

Blue Metalmark

A tiny butterfly with vivid metallic blue upper wings that flash brilliantly in sunlight. It perches on rocks and gravel near streams in tropical forests.

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Did You Know?

Its brilliant blue iridescence is structural rather than pigmented, produced by nanoscale lattice structures in the wing scales.

Great Spruce Bark Beetle

The largest European bark beetle, attacking living spruce trees. Unlike most bark beetles, it does not use aggregation pheromones for mass attack.

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Did You Know?

It is biologically controlled by the specialist predatory beetle Rhizophagus grandis, which feeds only on its larvae.