Flattened Giant Millipede Beetle vs Red-legged Jewel Beetle

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Flattened Giant Millipede Beetle Red-legged Jewel Beetle
Scientific Name Passalus unicornis Castiarina rufipennis
Order Coleoptera Coleoptera
Family Passalidae Buprestidae
Size 30-45 mm 10-15 mm
Habitat Woodlands Woodlands
Diet Wood Feeders Nectar Feeders
Regions Central Africa (Cameroon, Gabon, DRC, Congo) Australia
Conservation Least Concern Least Concern

Flattened Giant Millipede Beetle

A large, flattened bess beetle with a shiny black body and a small horn on the head. Adults and larvae live together in rotting logs in a subsocial arrangement. Adults produce sounds by rubbing their hindwings against the abdomen.

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Did You Know?

Parents feed their larvae pre-chewed wood and communicate with them using stridulatory sounds, one of the few examples of parental care in beetles.

Red-legged Jewel Beetle

A medium-sized jewel beetle with reddish-brown elytra and metallic green thorax. It visits flowers in eucalypt woodlands across southern Australia.

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Did You Know?

The genus Castiarina contains about 500 species, all found only in Australia and New Guinea.