The Cairngorms Up-Close: Gallery
[CAIRNGORMS UP-CLOSE] [DEEPGREEN.EARTH]
Group: LEAF BEETLES
Thistle tortoise beetle (Cassida rubiginosa)
Where and when encountered: Boat of Garten on 22 May 2024
About: Thistle tortoise beetles can be found throughout much of Great Britain, but they are less commonly encountered in the Scottish Highlands than elsewhere. The adults and larvae feed on thistles and other composites such as common knapweed. The larvae protect themselves from predation by developing a shield on their back using their excreta.
Date range for live (non-diapausing) adult records: 26 April to 24 September (152 days)
Years with at least one adult record: 2024, 2025, 2026 (3)
Dead-nettle leaf beetle (Chrysolina fastuosa)
Where and when encountered: Grantown-on-Spey on 30 May 2026
About: Dead-nettle leaf beetles are associated with various Labiates, including hemp-nettles, nettles, selfheal, white dead-nettle, and woundworts (at least marsh woundwort), as well as gooseberry. The species is patchily distributed in Great Britain and rather uncommon in the north of Scotland.
Years with at least one adult record: 2026 (1)
Knotgrass leaf beetle (Chrysolina polita)
Where and when encountered: Castle Grant on 10 May 2026
About: Knotgrass leaf beetles, despite their vernacular name, are strongly associated with water mint and certain other Labiates, including ground-ivy. They may be encountered from the far north to the far south of Great Britain.
Date range for live (non-diapausing) adult records: 10 May to 6 June (28 days)
Years with at least one adult record: 2026 (1)
Chrysolina staphylaea
Where and when encountered: Nethy Bridge on 18 November 2025
About: Leaf beetles of the species Chrysolina staphylaea feed on an eclectic variety of plants that includes buttercups, mints, and plantains, as well as other aromatic herbs. The insect may be encountered in various corners of Great Britain.
Editor's note: This individual seemed to be trying to find shelter in some plait-moss, with snow falling from above.
Years with at least one adult record: 2025 (1)
Chrysomela aenea
Where and when encountered: Dulnain Bridge on 3 June 2022
About: Beetles of this species are typically found on the foliage of alder trees, especially by watercourses and in wet woodland. In Great Britain, they are most commonly encountered in the uplands.
Date range for live (non-diapausing) adult records: 16 May to 23 August (100 days)
Years with at least one adult record: 2022, 2025, 2026 (3)
Crepidodera fulvicornis
Where and when encountered: Craigellachie NNR on 19 August 2025
About: Leaf beetles of the species Crepidodera fulvicornis feed on willows especially but also aspen and some other species of tree. They can be found in many parts of Great Britain, although they are less widespread in the Scottish Highlands than elsewhere.
Editor's note: I am somewhat confident of the species identification here.
Years with at least one adult record: 2025 (1)
Brown willow beetle (Galerucella lineola)
Where and when encountered: Abernethy Forest on 28 October 2021
About: Beetles of this species may be encountered across Great Britain and have been found feeding on alder, aspen, hazel, willow, black poplar, and birch.
Date range for live (non-diapausing) adult records: 6 June to 28 October (145 days)
Years with at least one adult record: 2021, 2026 (2)
Green dock beetle (Gastrophysa viridula)
Where and when encountered: Grantown-on-Spey on 17 June 2022
About: Green dock beetles can be found in most parts of Great Britain, although their distribution is patchier in Scotland than elsewhere. The larvae feed on dock leaves, principally, but also certain other plants, including (reportedly) buttercups.
Editor's note: Egg-carrying females have conspicuously distended abdomens, as can be seen in this photograph.
Date range for live (non-diapausing) adult records: 10 May to 17 June (39 days)
Years with at least one adult record: 2022, 2026 (2)
Gonioctena decemnotata
Where and when encountered: Abernethy Forest on 28 May 2026
About: Beetles of the species Gonioctena decemnotata feed on aspen, especially, but also willows and perhaps other trees too in openings in woodland and along woodland edges. Most records in the NBN Atlas for this species are from southern England, but there are a small number of sightings reported from the Scottish Highlands.
Years with at least one adult record: 2026 (1)
Broom leaf beetle (Gonioctena olivacea)
Where and when encountered: Anagach Woods on 3 August 2024
About: Broom leaf beetles can be found in most habitats where the food-plant in their vernacular name grows (as well as in the vicinity of gorse). They can be found in many parts of Great Britain but are less widely distributed in Scotland than in England and Wales.
Date range for live (non-diapausing) adult records: 11 May to 3 August (85 days)
Years with at least one adult record: 2024, 2025, 2026 (3)
Heather beetle (Lochmaea suturalis)
Where and when encountered: Grantown-on-Spey on 26 April 2026
About: Heather beetles can be found in most parts of Great Britain where heaths, their food-plants, grow.
Date range for live (non-diapausing) adult records: 21 April to 24 August (126 days)
Years with at least one adult record: 2024, 2026 (2)
Luperus flavipes
Where and when encountered: Grantown-on-Spey on 31 May 2022
About: Leaf beetles of the species Luperus flavipes feed on the foliage of various trees including willows, birches, alder, and hazel. The insect has a rather scattered distribution in Great Britain and is considered nationally scarce.
Date range for live (non-diapausing) adult records: 17 to 31 May (15 days)
Years with at least one adult record: 2022, 2026 (2)
Luperus longicornis
Where and when encountered: Nethy Bridge on 6 June 2024
About: Leaf beetles of the species Luperus longicornis are thought to have a preference for damp habitats, and they may be encountered from the far north to the far south of Great Britain. Adults feed on the foliage of various tree species, including alder, birches, hawthorns, hazel, oaks and willows.
Editor's note: Males (like the individual photographed) are usually more slender than females, have much longer antennae, and have eyes that are more protruding.
Years with at least one adult record: 2024 (1)
Neocrepidodera transversa
Where and when encountered: Tomintoul on 2 September 2025
About: Leaf beetles of the species Neocrepidodera transversa feed on various plants, including thistles, meadowsweet, and nettles. They can be found in most parts of Great Britain.
Editor's note: I am somewhat confident of the species identification here.
Years with at least one adult record: 2025 (1)
Celery leaf beetle (Phaedon tumidulus)
Where and when encountered: Nethy Bridge on 23 August 2025
About: Celery leaf beetles feed on umbellifers such as cow parsley, ground-elder, hogweed and wild angelica. They are widespread across England, Wales, and southern Scotland, but are much more sporadically distributed in northern Scotland.
Editor's note: I am somewhat confident of the species identification here.
Years with at least one adult record: 2025 (1)
Blue willow beetle (Phratora vulgatissima)
Where and when encountered: Balliefurth Farm on 11 August 2025
About: Blue willow beetles feed on the foliage of willows in particular, as their vernacular name suggests, as well as aspen and birches. They can be found in various corners of Great Britain.
Years with at least one adult record: 2025 (1)
Plateumaris discolor
Where and when encountered: Abernethy Forest on 18 May 2024
About: Beetles of the species Plateumaris discolor feed on wetland plants including bur-reeds, cottongrasses, marsh-marigold, and true sedges. The species is widely distributed across Great Britain.
Years with at least one adult record: 2024 (1)
Plateumaris sericea
Where and when encountered: Auchgourish on 11 May 2025
About: Beetles of the species Plateumaris sericea feed on wetland plants including bulrush, bur-reeds, cottongrasses, irises, reeds, and true sedges. The species is widely distributed across Great Britain.
Date range for live (non-diapausing) adult records: 11 May to 2 June (23 days)
Years with at least one adult record: 2025, 2026 (2)
Prasocuris glabra
Where and when encountered: Glenfeshie on 11 May 2026
About: These beetles feed on the leaves and petals of members of the buttercup family, including creeping and meadow buttercup. They live in various habitats, and adults hibernate in tussocks. The species is rather uncommon and has a scattered distribution in Great Britain, with records in the NBN Atlas for the Scottish Highlands being especially limited.
Years with at least one adult record: 2026 (1)
Sphaeroderma testaceum
Where and when encountered: Grantown-on-Spey on 12 August 2025
About: Leaf beetles of the species Sphaeroderma testaceum feed on thistles and can be found in most parts of Great Britain, although they are much less frequently encountered in the Scottish Highlands than elsewhere.
Years with at least one adult record: 2025 (1)
Selected galleries
[ALL-TIME HIGHLIGHTS] [ARCTIC ALPINE PLANTS] [BUMBLEBEES] [BUTTERFLIES] [COLOURFUL MOTHS] [DRAGONFLIES] [FORBS] [GALLS] [GRASSLAND ORCHIDS] [INSECTS OF EXPOSED RIVER SEDIMENT] [LONGHORN BEETLES] [PINE-ASSOCIATED FUNGI] [PLANT BUGS] [SAWFLIES (ADULTS)] [SHIELDBUGS] [SOCIAL WASPS] [TRUE FLIES: AWL-FLIES] [TRUE FLIES: CRANEFLIES] [TRUE FLIES: DANCE FLIES] [TRUE FLIES: DUNG FLIES] [TRUE FLIES: FRUIT FLIES] [TRUE FLIES: HOVERFLIES] [TRUE FLIES: MARCH FLIES] [TRUE FLIES: ROBBERFLIES] [TRUE FLIES: SNIPEFLIES] [TRUE FLIES: TACHINID FLIES] [TRUE FLIES: THICK-HEADED FLIES] [UNCOMMON PINEWOOD HERBS] [WOODY PLANTS]