| Eudicella smithii | |
|---|---|
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| Eudicella smithii, male and female. Museum specimen | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Coleoptera |
| Family: | Scarabaeidae |
| Genus: | Eudicella |
| Species: | E. smithii |
| Binomial name | |
| Eudicella smithii (MacLeay, 1838) | |
| Synonyms [1] | |
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Eudicella smithii is a species of African scarab beetle in the subfamily Cetoniinae, the flower beetles.
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The adults of Eudicella smithii reach about 25–40 millimetres (1.0–1.6 in) of length. The males have a Y-shaped forked horn in the forehead, typical of the entire genus and used in fighting over females and in defense of territory. The color of the pronotum can be reddish, green or blue. The elytra vary from ocher to yellowish and show a black spot on the shoulders and on the rear exterior angles. The legs are mostly reddish brown.
Due to similarities between Eudicella smithii and Eudicella euthalia , the two are easily confused.
In captivity, adults are fed a diet of bananas, mangoes, melons, and other soft fruits. [2]
This species can be found in Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa and Tanzania. [1]
Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera, in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 described species, is the largest of all orders, constituting almost 40% of described insects and 25% of all known animal life-forms; new species are discovered frequently, with estimates suggesting that there are between 0.9 and 2.1 million total species. Found in almost every habitat except the sea and the polar regions, they interact with their ecosystems in several ways: beetles often feed on plants and fungi, break down animal and plant debris, and eat other invertebrates. Some species are serious agricultural pests, such as the Colorado potato beetle, while others such as Coccinellidae eat aphids, scale insects, thrips, and other plant-sucking insects that damage crops.
The family Scarabaeidae, as currently defined, consists of over 30,000 species of beetles worldwide; they are often called scarabs or scarab beetles. The classification of this family has undergone significant change in recent years. Several subfamilies have been elevated to family rank, and some reduced to lower ranks. The subfamilies listed in this article are in accordance with those in Bouchard (2011).
Sir Andrew Smith was a British surgeon, explorer, ethnologist and zoologist. He is considered the father of zoology in South Africa having described many species across a wide range of groups in his major work, Illustrations of the Zoology of South Africa.
Dung beetles are beetles that feed on feces. Some species of dung beetles can bury dung 250 times their own mass in one night.
Trogidae, sometimes called hide beetles, is a family of beetles with a distinctive warty or bumpy appearance. Found worldwide, the family includes about 300 species contained in four or five genera.
Dermestidae are a family of Coleoptera that are commonly referred to as skin beetles. Other common names include larder beetle, hide or leather beetles, carpet beetles, and khapra beetles. There are over 1,100 species described.
The Cape shoveler or Cape shoveller is a species of dabbling duck of the genus Spatula. It is resident in South Africa, and uncommon further north in Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, southern Angola, Lesotho, Mozambique, and Zambia.
The rain beetles are a group of beetles found in the far west of North America. They spend most of their lives underground, emerging in response to rain or snow, thus the common name. Formerly classified in the Scarabaeidae, they are currently assigned to their own family Pleocomidae, considered the sister group to all the remaining families of Scarabaeoidea. The family contains a single extant genus, Pleocoma, and two extinct genera, Cretocoma, described in 2002 from Late Cretaceous deposits in Mongolia, and Proteroscarabeus of Late Cretaceous China.
Ochodaeidae, also known as the sand-loving scarab beetles, is a small family of scarabaeiform beetles occurring in many parts of the world.
Flower chafers are a group of scarab beetles, comprising the subfamily Cetoniinae. Many species are diurnal and visit flowers for pollen and nectar, or to browse on the petals. Some species also feed on fruit. The group is also called fruit and flower chafers, flower beetles and flower scarabs. There are around 4,000 species, many of them still undescribed.
Phyllophaga is a very large genus of New World scarab beetles in the subfamily Melolonthinae. Common names for this genus and many other related genera in the subfamily Melolonthinae are May beetles, June bugs, and July beetles. They range in size from 12 to 35 mm and are blackish or reddish-brown in colour, without prominent markings, and often rather hairy ventrally. These beetles are nocturnal, coming to lights in great numbers.
Dynastes is a genus of large beetles belonging to the family Scarabaeidae. They occur in the Nearctic realm and in the Neotropical realm, from the United States to Brazil; four North American species, three with distributions extending from Central America either north or south, and two species endemic to South America.
Scarabaeus sacer, common name sacred scarab, is the type species of dung beetles in its genus and the family Scarabaeidae.
Goliathus regius, the Royal Goliath beetle, is a species of beetles of the family Scarabaeidae.
Dynastes satanas, the Satanas beetle, is a species of beetle belonging to the family Scarabaeidae; the name is sometimes misspelled as "satanus".
Chiasognathus grantii is a species of stag beetle found in Argentina and Chile. It is known as Darwin's beetle, Grant's stag beetle, or the Chilean stag beetle.
Eudicella gralli, sometimes called the flamboyant flower beetle or striped love beetle, is a brightly coloured member of the scarab beetle family, in the subfamily known as flower beetles. Their shells seem to have a prismatic quality, refracting the ambient light to give the green of their carapace a rainbow tint. This species of flower beetle lives in the rainforests of Africa, where it feeds on the nectar and pollen of flowers, but is popular in the exotic pet trade. The larvae of the flower beetle live in decaying wood, feeding on dead wood and leaf litter. Adults reach lengths of 25–40 millimetres (0.98–1.57 in). As in other species of this genus, the males have a "Y"-shaped horn, used to fight over females. The females have a shovel-like tusk, used for burrowing in wood. During their gestation period they will dig into the wood and lay eggs.
Heteronychus arator is a species of beetle in the subfamily Dynastinae. It is commonly called African black beetle or black lawn beetle. It is native to Africa and it is an introduced species in Australia, Norfolk Island and the North Island of New Zealand.
Termitotrox cupido is a species of scarab beetle in the subfamily Termitotroginae. It was first described by Munetoshi Maruyama in 2012, having been discovered living inside a nest of the termite Hypotermes makhamensis in Cambodia. It is a tiny, blind and flightless insect.
Scarabaeus ambiguus is a species of Old World dung beetles. This beetle rolls up a ball of dung before laying eggs on it and burying it.