Lebia Greenhead vs Viburnum Leaf Beetle

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Lebia Greenhead Viburnum Leaf Beetle
Scientific Name Lebia viridis Pyrrhalta viburni
Order Coleoptera Coleoptera
Family Carabidae Chrysomelidae
Size 5-8 mm 4-6 mm
Habitat Heathland Gardens
Diet Parasitoids Herbivores
Regions Eastern North America Europe (native), introduced to North America
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.

Viburnum Leaf Beetle

A small, brownish-yellow beetle with dense pubescence that has become a serious invasive pest of ornamental viburnum shrubs. Larvae skeletonize leaves from the underside.

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Did You Know?

Females chew holes in twigs and deposit eggs inside, capping them with a mixture of excrement and chewed bark that hardens into a protective cover.