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LARGE JEWEL BEETLES

BUPRESTIDAE: CHRYSOCHROINAE

T

he subfamily Chrysochroinae is a mainly

tropical group, with exceptional diversity in

tropical Africa, where the genera Sphenoptera and

Iridotaenia are abundant, and also in Madagascar,

where there are many species of the strikingly

colored genus Polybothris. Only a few species reach

southern Europe and temperate North America.

Chrysochroinae are diurnal with wood-feeding

BUPRESTIDAE: CHRYSOCHROINAE

subfamily

Chrysochroinae

known species

2,760

distribution

All continents, a strong tropical association

habitat

Anywhere where there are trees, so forests

in particular. Can exist close to human

habitation in city parks, gardens, and even

street trees

size

6–75 mm

diet

Larvae of most species develop in wood.

Adults feed on leaves and sap, and in some

cases may visit flowers

notes

For centuries, the bright, striking colors and

large size of buprestids, and Chrysochroinae

in particular, have impressed people,

especially since the metallic structural colors

larvae. They are the third largest subfamily of

Buprestidae in terms of the numbers of species,

but also include some of the biggest individual

species. Of the three genera of Buprestidae

worldwide with species that can reach lengths of

2¾ in (7 cm), two are in Chrysochroinae (the other

being the rarely seen Central Asian genus Aaata in

the Julodinae).