Narycius

Narycius
Narycius
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Family: Scarabaeidae
Subfamily: Cetoniinae
Genus: Narycius
Dupont, 1835
Species: N. opalus
Binomial name
Narycius opalus
(Dupont, 1835)

Narycius opalus is a flower chafer beetle that is endemic to the Western Ghats of India. It is the sole species in the genus. The adult male is distinctive while the female has a much shorter horn on the head. It is the only species in the genus that was described and named by J O Westwood. The male has a prominent projection on the head, making it of interest to collectors. This structure is probably the result of sexual selection.

A species described as Narycius olivaceus by Dupont was said to be the female of this species by Westwood but Gilbert Arrow treated that species as Cyphonocephalus smaragdulus.[1][2]

Illustration

This beetle is about 2 to 2.5 cm long and 1.3 cm wide. The adult male beetle is shiny iridescent rose or green according to the angle of viewing. The distinctive cephalic horns may be nearly two-thirds the length of the thorax and abdomen combined. The surface is matt and the elytra are minutely pitted along lines. The prothorax and scutellum have pits that are irregularly placed. The upper edges of the cephalic horn are nearly straight and parallel and the expand towards the end and the tips are inwardly curving. The prothorax is convex above and is broadest at the middle.[2][3][4] The female has a much shorter cephalic horn.

The species has been noted from Coorg, Wynaad, the Nilgiris and Travancore.[2]

References

  1. ^ Westwood, JO (1845) Arcana Entomologica Vol.1. William Smith, London
  2. ^ a b c Arrow, GJ (1910). The Fauna of British India. Coleoptera. Lamellicornia (Cetoniinae & Dynastinae). Taylor and Francis, London. pp. 70–71. http://www.archive.org/stream/coleopteralamell01arro#page/70/mode/2up. 
  3. ^ Arrow, G. J. 1935. A note on the genus Narycius and a few other genera of Cetoniid Coleoptera. Stylops 4: 101.
  4. ^ Arrow, G. J. 1948. A note on the Indian beetle genus Narycius. The Annals and Magazine of Natural History (12) 1: 71-72.


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