Breathtaking Golden Jewel Scarabs Beetles
A genus of brightly colored, often metallic iridescent jewel scarabs, Chrysina is found from the southwestern edge of the United States down to Venezuela and Ecuador. These beetles are not to be confused with jewel beetles, which belong to a different family.
Chrysinos is a Greek name meaning “golden colored”. About 70 layers of chitinous exoskeleton make up the elytra of Chrysina. Various wavelengths of light are selectively refracted through the layers because of their varying reflective indices and spacing. As a result, different specimens will have different colors and metallic appearances due to their different phases.
All species formerly called Plusiotis are included in this genus. A typical size is 15–35 millimeters, and they are nocturnal in their habits, readily coming into contact with light at night. Typically, they can be found in pine, juniper, or pine-oak forests, most commonly between 1,000 and 3,000 meters in elevation, where the larvae live in rotting logs and the adults feed on foliage. It is possible to find 15 species in a single location in Guatemala, while the United States only has four.
Many species of these beetles are polymorphic, with rare color variants that command high prices. National Geographic Magazine featured one of these specimens on its cover. Chrysina gloriosa, a common species from the Madrean sky islands, is mainly green, but it also displays metallic silver and gold colors.
As much as $500 was reported to have been paid for particularly attractive Chrysina beyeri specimens in 2007. This scarab beetle stands out from hundreds of thousands of other gorgeous and brightly colored animals and plants in the natural world because of its brilliant golden color. It also has a distinctive polarised reflection.
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Beautiful Golden scarab beetles pic.twitter.com/AzyEjElUDg
— Fascinating (@fasc1nate) October 22, 2022
