Bug FAQDead-nettle Leaf Beetle
Fasta fastuosa
The dead-nettle leaf beetle is a small beetle about 5 to 7 mm long, often showing a gold shine that can turn green or violet-blue along the elytra, though some are completely green or black. It lives across Europe to Central Asia and has also been found in North America as an introduced species, feeding on plants in the mint family such as hemp-nettle and dead-nettle, and occasionally on common nettle.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Adults have a metallic gold sheen that changes to a green or violet-blue stripe near the shoulder band and the elytral suture, and some individuals are entirely green or black.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
The beetle measures between 5.1 and 6.9 mm in length.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
It occurs from Europe through Central Asia, including the Caucasus and possibly northern Turkey, and has been recorded as an adventive species in North America.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Both adults and larvae eat plants in the Lamiaceae family such as hemp-nettle (Galeopsis) and dead-nettle (Lamium). They are also known to feed on common nettle (Urtica dioica) from the Urticaceae family.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
The larvae can be parasitised by the tachinid fly Macquartia grisea.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
Its native range spans Europe to Central Asia, the Caucasus, and possibly northern Turkey.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 51 of 51 states and DC. Most records: California, Texas, New York, Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Arizona, Massachusetts.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Status: introduced in United States; introduced in Canada. Source: iNaturalist
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Questions people ask
Where might I find this beetle?
You may encounter it in Europe, Central Asia, the Caucasus region, possibly northern Turkey, and as an introduced species in North America.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family ()
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fasta
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-22 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.