Brazilian Weevil is Diamond Beetle

bugman

January 25th, 2008 at 1:00 am

Categories

Weevils

Gorgeous Beetle from Rio de Janeiro
We spotted this gorgeous shiny green beetle walking along the stone walls around the base of the statue of Christ the Redeemer at Corcovado in Rio de Janeiro in November 2005. When I saw his twin in the British mini-series “Wives and Daughters” this evening (preserved as a specimen being viewed by one of the characters), I found your site, but I didn’t see any beetles who looked like him. He was about 1.5 inches long. Can you identify him? http://www.bundlings.com/rio6.htm (photo of beetle is about 3/4 way down page) Best regards,
Debbie Schilling
Indianapolis

Hi Debbie,
This is some species of Weevil, a beetle in the family Curculionidae. We found an unidentified specimen photo on the BugManiac online store that looks very similar.

Update: Wed, Feb 25, 2009 at 9:18 AM
Re: Unknown Brazilian Weevil – January 25th, 2008
Hi Daniel:
The blue/green striped weevil posted by Debbie Schilling, and referred to in the recent blue Brazilian weevil posting, is probably in the genus Entimus (Curculionidae : Entiminae). It’s a relatively small neotropical genus with fewer than a dozen species, but all are notable for there incredible luster and brilliance. The largest of the group, E. imperialis, is sometimes called the Diamond Beetle and has long been used as an item of jewelry by regional native peoples. I can’t be certain about the species but from what I can tell E. nobilis seems to be the closest match. As a group, these weevils are apparently quite common in Brazil and they are popular among collectors, so it is a little surprising that good online photos are difficult to find. Regards.
Karl
http://www.worldfieldguide.com/wfg-species-detail.php?taxno=8498&gr=world