Chrysochroa buqueti
| Distribution: | Thailand |
| Size: | 40-47mm |
| Diet: | Wood |
Beetles in the Chrysochroa genus, such as this, are also known as metallic wood-boring beetles. The metallic aspect, like the jewel reference, alludes to their beautifully shiny and colourful appearence. Interestingly, their captivating iridescence is not caused by pigments in their exoskeleton, but by a microscopic texture in their cuticle that reflects specific frequencies of light in particular directions. This is known as structural coloration* – think of it as the way a CD reflects different colours when you hold it against the light.
Incredibly shiny bugs like these are a bit of a nightmare to photograph**, especially when you’re using a budget home solution, so I put a lot of effort into balancing the colours whilst drawing this bug and making sure that the bits I was drawing weren’t actually the camera lens being reflected back at me. This is the benefit of working with specimens – I have my nice detailed photo to work with but will always be looking at the 3-dimensional specimen to check things.
*thanks Wikipedia
**but if you want to see incredibly well photographed insects, check out Thorben Danke – he’s the best in the business and uses really clever setups to ensure his photographs are immaculate.
Take a closer look…
