Rosemary Beetle

Chrysolina americana · Order: Coleoptera · Family: Chrysomelidae

Damages trees, gardens or crops. They can damage garden herbs such as rosemary when infestations become large and long-lasting.

Source: Wikipedia

Rosemary Beetle
Photo: Katja Schulz, CC BY

The rosemary beetle is a small leaf beetle with metallic green-purple striped wing covers. It lives outdoors in southern Europe and nearby regions and appears as adults in spring. Control is best by hand-picking or shaking beetles onto paper; chemicals are a last resort.

Source: Wikipedia

How to recognize it

Their wing covers are bright with metallic green and purple stripes. Their wings are short, so they mostly walk and only fly short distances.

Source: Wikipedia

Size

Adults are 5 to 8 mm long.

Source: Wikipedia

Is it a pest in the house?

For culinary herbs, it is advised to pick the beetles off by hand or shake them onto paper.

Source: Wikipedia

How to get rid of it

Hand-picking or shaking beetles onto paper is the recommended control method. They are not a major problem for the plants, so extensive pesticide use is usually unnecessary.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it lives

They were first found living outdoors.

Source: Wikipedia

Life cycle

Females lay eggs on host-plant leaves in late summer. Larvae develop through winter, pupate for about three weeks, and emerge as adults in spring.

Source: Wikipedia

When you see it

Adult beetles appear in the spring.

Source: Wikipedia

More photos

Rosemary Beetle photo 3
Photo: Katja Schulz, CC BY
Rosemary Beetle photo 4
Photo: Katja Schulz, CC BY

Questions people ask

How can I get rid of them?

Pick them off by hand or shake them onto a sheet of paper; use pesticides only if the infestation is severe.

Source: Wikipedia

Same family (Chrysomelidae)

Spotted Cucumber BeetleSpotted Cucumber BeetleDiabrotica undecimpunctataDamages trees, gardens or cropsBean WeevilBean WeevilAcanthoscelides obtectusDamages trees, gardens or cropsCowpea WeevilCowpea WeevilCallosobruchus maculatusDamages trees, gardens or cropsSwamp Milkweed Leaf BeetleSwamp Milkweed Leaf BeetleLabidomera clivicollisDamages trees, gardens or cropsAlder Leaf BeetleAlder Leaf BeetleAgelastica alniDamages trees, gardens or cropsDogbane Leaf BeetleDogbane Leaf BeetleChrysochus auratus

Sources

  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysolina_americana

Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia

Text written 2026-10-22 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.

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