Trichostetha fascicularis

Trichostetha fascicularis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Coleoptera
Family:	Scarabaeidae
Subfamily:	Cetoniinae
Genus:	Trichostetha
Species:	T. fascicularis
Binomial name
Trichostetha fascicularis (Donovan, 1805)

Trichostetha fascicularis is a large, metallic-green beetle found in South Africa.

Description

The Protea Beetle is about 25mm long. It has metallic-green wing cases with a black head and thorax which has two white vertical stripes. It has orange hairs growing around the bottom of its body.^[1]

Habitat

It is found in South Africa wherever proteas occur. Adults feed on the pollen and nectar. They live in fynbos, mountainous habitats, and residential gardens if its food supply is available.

Subspecies

T. fascicularis has four subspecies:^{[lower-alpha 1]}

• Trichostetha fascicularis maraisi Stobbia, 1995^[3]
• Trichostetha fascicularis natalis Burmeister, 1842^[2]
• Trichostetha fascicularis nigripennis Allard, 1992^[3]
• Trichostetha fascicularis prunipennis Burmeister, 1842^[2]

References

1. T. fascicularis natalis and T. fascicularis prunipennis were reinstated as valid subspecies per Holm & Perissinotto, 2011.^[2] Older sources may still list these as invalid.

1. http://www.biodiversityexplorer.org/beetles/scarabaeidae/cetoniinae/trichostetha_fascicularis.htm
2. Holm, E.; Perissinotto, R. (March 2011). "New Descriptions and Revisions of Southern African Cetoniinae (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae). I". African Entomology. Entomological Society of Southern Africa. 19 (1): 88–95. doi:10.4001/003.019.0107. ISSN 1021-3589. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
3. Meyers, P.; Espinosa, R.; Parr, C.S.; Jones, T.; Hammond, G.S.; Dewey, T.A. (2014). "Trichostetha classification". The Animal Diversity Web. University of Michigan. Retrieved 11 August 2014.