Explanation of Names
viridipennis is Latin for green wing
(1)Numbers
48 spp. in four subgenera in the Nearctic Region
(2)Identification
Head black; pronotum orange and slightly wider than head; elytra dark shiny green, about twice as wide as pronotum, square-cornered at both ends, and not reaching tip of abdomen; femora and tibiae yellowish or orangish basally, black distally; abdomen orange, square-cornered distally, extending beyond end of elytra.
Range
Mostly eastern US (Florida to Texas, north to North Dakota, east through southern Ontario to New Hampshire). Also occurs in Mexico
Habitat
low vegetation and on flowers of herbaceous plants
Season
spring and summer. May-June, September, December (South Carolina).
Food
small insects and pollen of herbaceous plants
Print References
Ciegler, p. 125, fig. 219
(3)Internet References
adult image (CBIF: Ground Beetles of Canada and Alaska)
drawing of adult (Mississippi State U.)
distribution (Florida State Museum of Entomology)
comparison images of 14 other
Lebia species (CBIF: Ground Beetles of Canada and Alaska)
