Subject: Metallic Green w/ black pattern
Geographic location of the bug: Taveuni, Fiji
Date: 03/27/2020
Time: 05:17 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman: Is this a jewel beetle? It had landed on this floating seed pod and had not quite tucked his wing away. My underwater camera was already set up for macro so I wiped the lens and shot topside.
Roughly about 2 cm. Segmented antennae. Hard shell. Small thorax.
How you want your letter signed: Richard
Dear Richard,
This is not a Jewel Beetle in the family Buprestidae. It is not a beetle at all. This is a Shield Bug in the family Scutelleridae, and because of their often bright, metallic colors, they are sometimes commonly called Jewel Bugs. So this is a Jewel Bug, not a Jewel Beetle. We have not had much luck identifying the species, but we did locate a matching image on The Organic Bunny blog, but you have to scroll down to see the unidentified image.
Thank you so much! You are the best!
Richard Todd