The sweet scent of lavender

Rosemary Beetle (Chrysolina americana)

 

This time of year, these beetles are all over the lavender plants in our office garden, shamelessly copulating in public :-)

 

Despite its scientific name (Chrysolina americana), the Rosemary Beetle is a native of southern Europe. It is usually found on its favorite host plants: Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) (hence its common name) or Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) (like in this photo), but it is likely that other plants in the Mint plant family (Lamiaceae) may also act as hosts.

 

kingdom: Animalia

phylum: Arthropoda

subphylum: Hexapoda

class: Insecta

order: Coleoptera

suborder: Polyphaga

infraorder: Cucujiformia

superfamily: Chrysomeloidea

family: Chrysomelidae

subfamily: Chrysomelinae

genus: Chrysolina

species: C. americana

Done