Four-ribbed Jewel Beetle vs Blood-red Cymothoe

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Four-ribbed Jewel Beetle Blood-red Cymothoe
Scientific Name Polybothris quadricollis Cymothoe sangaris
Order Coleoptera Lepidoptera
Family Buprestidae Nymphalidae
Size 20-30 mm 55-70 mm wingspan
Habitat Forests Forests
Diet Wood Feeders Blood Feeders
Regions Madagascar Central Africa (Cameroon, Gabon, Congo, DRC)
Conservation Least Concern Least Concern

Four-ribbed Jewel Beetle

A moderately sized jewel beetle with four distinct ridges on the pronotum, which gives it its name. The elytra shimmer with dark metallic green to bronze tones.

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Did You Know?

The structural color of its exoskeleton inspired biomimicry research into creating non-fade paints and coatings.

Blood-red Cymothoe

A strikingly sexually dimorphic butterfly where males are vivid blood-red and females are brown with white bands. It is one of the most recognizable butterflies in Central African forests. Flight is relatively slow and gliding.

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Did You Know?

The blood-red coloration of males is so vivid that early European explorers initially mistook them for a different species from the brown females.