Metallic Wood Boring Beetle from Guatemala: Giant Metallic Ceiba Borer Beetle

bugman

December 25th, 2006 at 1:00 am

Categories

Beetles

BIG insect
I am in Guatemala and a bug flew into my neighbor’s boat. His wings had an iridescent, abalone coloring that rubbed off shiny yellowish. His head was more like a grasshopper’s. He was BIG. Clearly, I’ve got too much time on my hands because I have looked at more bugs on the internet than I ever thought possible. Can you give me any idea what this bug is? One "expert" suggested it looked like a big cockroach except for its head… Here is a link to the bug on my webshots page, which I handled. It liked to crawl, didn’t seem to be interested in flying away, and (thank goodness) it didn’t bite. Sincerely,
Sharon Kratz

Hi Sharon,
This is a Metallic Wood Boring Beetle in the family Buprestidae. We got another photo from Panama in 2005 and Eric Eaton thought it might be the Giant Metallic Ceiba Borer Beetle, Euchroma gigantea. Most photos we found online did not seem to match your specimen, but we finally located an image that does appear to be a match. Freshly emerged specimens are reported to have a yellow bloom which would explain your observation. Once the bloom rubs off, the colors are more iridescent. The scientific name means “colorful giant” according to some information we have located. The elytra or wing covers are made into jewelry and ornaments by peoples in Central and South America; adults are eaten by Tzeltal-Mayan Indians in Chiapas, Mexico. The range of the insect reaches from Mexico to Argentina.