Bug FAQGreen Tortoise Beetle
Cassida viridis · Order: Coleoptera · Family: Chrysomelidae
The green tortoise beetle is a small, flat, oval beetle about 8.5 to 10 mm long. Its thorax and wing covers are uniformly green, lacking the markings seen in other Cassida species. It lives on low vegetation, especially various mints and other Lamiaceae, and can be seen from April through October across Europe, the Near East, North Africa and parts of the eastern Palearctic.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
The beetle’s body is unusually flat and oval-shaped.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Adults measure between 8.5 and 10 mm in length (about 0.33 to 0.39 in).
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
They are usually found on their food plants, mainly various mints and other Lamiaceae.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
They feed on several mint species and other members of the Lamiaceae family, including Galeopsis, Melissa, Salvia and Stachys.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
The larvae are covered in spines. They carry their own excrement on two dorsal spines as a protective shield.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
Adults can be encountered from April to October.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
The species occurs throughout most of Europe, the eastern Palearctic, the Near East, and North Africa.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
Other Cassida species have markings on the thorax and elytra, which this beetle lacks.
Source: Wikipedia
Status: introduced in Canada. Source: iNaturalist
Questions people ask
What plants does it eat?
It feeds on various mints and other Lamiaceae such as Galeopsis, Melissa, Salvia and Stachys.
Source: Wikipedia
What does the beetle look like?
It is a flat, oval beetle with uniformly green thorax and wing covers and no distinctive markings.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Chrysomelidae)
Spotted Cucumber BeetleDiabrotica undecimpunctataDamages trees, gardens or crops
Bean WeevilAcanthoscelides obtectusDamages trees, gardens or crops
Cowpea WeevilCallosobruchus maculatusDamages trees, gardens or crops
Swamp Milkweed Leaf BeetleLabidomera clivicollisDamages trees, gardens or crops
Alder Leaf BeetleAgelastica alniDamages trees, gardens or crops
Dogbane Leaf BeetleChrysochus auratusSources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassida_viridis
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-23 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.