Lesser Bloody-nosed beetle (Timarcha goettingensis)

Having recently posted about the Bloody-nosed beetle (Timarcha tenebricosa) what better time to add the Lesser Bloody-nosed beetle?

Unfortunately, the photograph above doesn't give a full view of the beetle in question, but to get a better angle would have involved unecessarily trampling on fresh grassland wild flowers, which I wasn't prepared to do, just for a better photograph.

However, the two beetles are similar enough, should you want a clearer view just hop to my T. tenebricosa post.

While T. tenebricosa is generally the larger of the two, coming in at 11-18mm against 8-13mm for T. goettingensis, both are flightless, slow-walking, long-living Leaf beetles.

Among the differences to note, the former beetle is very lightly mottled and has rounded edges to the sides of the pronotum, whereas our friend here has stronger mottling and straighter edges to the pronotum. The latter is also noticeably shinier.

The larger species is locally common across the south of England and Wales, while T. goettingensis appears to be absent from Wales & the South West of England, appearing locally across the central and eastern southern counties and into central England.