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This species seems to favour areas with flower-rich meadows and verges with large hedgerows are the habitat it likes best though no-one knows quite why. Neither is it clear which of these particular features are most important.
Littles known of the natural history of the scarlet malachite beetle. The adults have been seen most frequently on buttercups, apparently feeding on the pollen. It is known that they feed also on grass pollen, but it is likely that they are mostly predatory, feeding on other insects that visit the flowers. Only one larva has ever been found, a predatory grub found under some loose tree bark.
This attractive insect is one of Britain's rarest. It has a striking livery of scarlet and metallic emerald green.
Malachius aeneus adults frequent flowers, especially buttercups, and have been swept from vegetation, in grassland and grassy areas in woodland, during May and June. They are known to feed on the pollen of various grasses, including cock's-foot and meadow foxtail. The larvae are ground frequenting predators and feed on insect larvae, including those of the pollen beetle Meligethes aeneus, in grass and stubble.
This species was formerly local but widespread throughout England, with records from the following vice-counties: north and south Devon, north Somerset, Dorset, Isle of Wight, south Hampshire, East Sussex, east and west Kent, Surrey, south Essex, Hertfordshire, Berkshire, east Gloucestershire, Warwickshire, Derbyshire, Cheshire, south-east Yorkshire, Durham and south Northumberland. Malachius aeneus was also recorded from Glamorgan. Most post 1970 records are from north Somerset, south Hampshire, west Kent and Hertfordshire. It has recently been recorded from very few sites in southern England. It occurs throughout northern, central and southern Europe (including the Mediterranean region) into the Middle East and Iran; it also occurs in the USA and Canada.
