Iridescent Blue Beetle.

John 2 · May 9, 2022

Any entomologists out there ID this. Never seen them in the garden before but suddenly there are quite a few this year. I think I have whittled it down to either a Blue Mint Beetle or an Alder Leaf Beetle but since it seemed to prefer one of my Basil plants to the Mint and I don't have any Alder....................... (Couldn't get around for a head shot)

Fuji X-T4 Fuji 80mm macro.

jeffashman · May 9, 2022

Nice shot, although the focus is a tad off on the beetle, but macros are like that. Seek says it is an Alder Leaf beetle.

K9Kirk · May 9, 2022

Nice shot.

Jeff15 · May 10, 2022

Very good bug.....

John 2 · May 10, 2022

Thanks all for the comments.

@jeffashman, did a bit more research. Alder Leaf beetles are found on trees and shrubs, mainly Alder, Hazel and Hornbeam. Blue mint beetle prefer wild and domestic mint plants and apparently Basil. So I will plump for the Blue Mint Beetle although to look at the varios images I can't tell them apart. The only beetles on shown in Google images that look different to me have 1600cc air cooled engines.