Species of the Month: May 2025

Green Dock Beetle Gastrophysa viridula

 

This small (4-6mm) metallic green beetle becomes particularly noticeable during their breeding season, when the females become gravid. This causes the abdomen to swell, displacing the wing cases as shown on the right.

As the name suggests, this species is generally found on their food plant of Dock species, where females will lay clutches of yellow eggs on the underside of the leaves (shown below). You may also see their feeding signs of small round holes in the leaves. Green Dock Beetle is fairly ubiquitous wherever Dock is found, particularly near water, but we only have 700 records for the SEWBReC area; view a 1km distribution map here.

You can find more image and information about of Green Dock Beetle on Naturespot and UK Beetle Recording. You can view Wales-wide distribution map here.

If you spot Green Dock Beetle during May (or at any other time of year) please send us the record, ideally via SEWBReCORD or the LERC Wales App. Instructions on how to submit records are available here.