Clown Beetle vs Green Dock Beetle

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Clown Beetle Green Dock Beetle
Scientific Name Hister unicolor Gastrophysa viridula
Order Coleoptera Coleoptera
Family Histeridae Chrysomelidae
Size 6-9 mm 4-6 mm
Habitat Farmland Grasslands
Diet Scavengers Herbivores
Regions Europe, North America Europe
Conservation Least Concern Least Concern

Clown Beetle

A small, shiny black beetle with a compact, rounded body. It is a predator of fly larvae found in dung and decaying matter.

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Did You Know?

It can retract its legs and antennae into grooves on its body, making it nearly spherical.

Green Dock Beetle

A small, brilliant metallic green beetle that feeds on dock and sorrel plants. Gravid females have enormously swollen abdomens.

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Did You Know?

A female's abdomen can swell to several times its normal size when full of eggs, dwarfing the rest of her body.