Lebia Greenhead vs Brimstone

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Lebia Greenhead Brimstone
Scientific Name Lebia viridis Gonepteryx rhamni
Order Coleoptera Lepidoptera
Family Carabidae Pieridae
Size 5-8 mm 52-60 mm wingspan
Habitat Heathland Heathland
Diet Parasitoids Nectar Feeders
Regions Eastern North America Europe, Asia, North Africa
Conservation Least Concern Least Concern

Lebia Greenhead

A small, brightly colored ground beetle with a metallic green head and pronotum and reddish-brown elytra. Its larvae are parasitoids of leaf beetle pupae, an unusual life history for carabids.

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Did You Know?

Its larvae are ectoparasitoids that attach to and consume leaf beetle pupae, a lifestyle extremely rare among ground beetles and more typical of parasitic wasps.

Brimstone

Males are vivid sulphur-yellow; females are pale greenish-white. Leaf-shaped wings provide excellent camouflage at rest.

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Did You Know?

The word butterfly may derive from the butter-yellow colour of the Brimstone, one of the earliest to fly.