The opinion among the UK’s Tansy Beetle observers has always been that the beetle doesn’t fly. This is not uncommon among beetles (coleoptera), even when they have functional wing cases (elytra), but work and observations by Dr Geoff Oxford, and I hope I’m not stealing any of his thunder, has shown that beetles recently emerged from the larval stage do actually have wings and their elytra aren’t fused. He has also noted that when they re-emerge from hibernation in the Spring the cells that made wings have been absorbed into other organs. So, what does this mean? It means that if we are to see any Tansy Beetles flying it will happen in August or September when the that year’s beetles have the wherewithal to do so.

We frequently get reports from people who claim to have seen Tansy Bettles, where in actual fact what they have seen were Dock, Rosemary or Mint Beetles, all of which bear some similarity, especially the Mint Beetle. However, I think we’d like to hear reports, especially if supported by video, of real-life Tansy Beetles flying.