Unexpectedly, this thick brow and big eyes emerald turned out to be a pest.

There are about 400000 known species of beetles on the earth we live in, accounting for about 1/4 of the total number of species in the animal kingdom. This is only the known part, and there are far more than 400000 species of beetles that have not yet been discovered and named.

Beetles are any of various insects of the order Coleoptera. Their forewings (or sheath wings) are as hard as a sheath, protecting their soft hind wings and abdomen. At the same time, their scabbard wings are colorful, forming a variety of wonderful patterns and colors, and have become a source of inspiration for many artists and writers. Jiding beetle is one of the most outstanding representatives of beetles, and our protagonist today is a member of Jiding beetle-rainbow Jiding beetle.

Rainbow giddy worms that spread their wings and are about to fly. Picture: xuite.net

A rainbow boat

The more commonly used name in China is Taojin Jiding, with a body length of 3cm to 4cm; it is golden and green in color, and its whole body looks like a ship with upturned ends; its head is covered with irregular rough spots, and there is a purplish-red longitudinal band on the front chest dorsal plate and sheath wing; magnify the sheath wing as gorgeous as a rainbow, densely covered with fine dots.

The rainbow giddy worm ends up slightly, like a golden-green boat. Picture: umihoshi.com

Its scientific name is Chrysochroa fulgidissima, dissim. it means most, and fulgidus means sparkling, which adds up to the brightest. The nominee must have been fascinated by the amazing color scheme at first sight.

The scabbard wings of the rainbow worms are enlarged to see rainbow-like stripes. Picture: cocolog-nifty.com

Rainbow gibberellates are mainly distributed in Southeast Asia. Some ethnic minorities in Taiwan refer to rainbow bugs as "rainbow eyes". Only the elders of the clan are qualified to sew their wings on their clothes as decoration.

The rainbow giddy worm at the fingertip is like an emerald. Picture: umihoshi.com

In Japan, the rainbow jade bug is called the Daiwa jade bug, which means the worm of the soul and a symbol of good luck. In the east of Xumi Temple in Falong Temple, there is a jade worm cook (the cook is a small shrine for Buddha statues), which provides Guan Yin statues. The cook was made after the 7th century AD and is decorated with the scabbard wings of more than 30000 rainbow bugs. It is a national treasure of Japan and perfectly embodies the architectural art of the bird era.

In South Korea, in the Jin Guan mound of the ancient tomb group in Gyeongzhou City, more than a thousand years ago, Silla [chrysn] (harness padded on both sides of the saddle to prevent mud splashing) was found, and it was also decorated with the scabbard wing of the rainbow giddy worm. Combined with the archaeological relics of other tombs, the rainbow giddy worm was a very advanced craft decoration at that time.

Beautiful pests

There are about 20000 species of gibberries known in the world and more than 600 species in China. They are mainly found in the tropics and are typical insects in hot and humid forests. They like to move during the day when there is sunshine.

All kinds of gibberries. Picture: blogspot.com

Like other beetles, they experience egg-larva-pupa-adult growth in their lifetime. The small giddy worms lurk under the leaves to feed on the mesophyll during the larval stage and become the heart worms of trees when they grow up. The medium-and large-sized gibberellin larvae live between the phloem and xylem of trees, wandering and feeding in the wood, leaving winding tunnels full of insect dung.

The mature larvae pupate in the pupa chamber in the wood, and then drill out of the wood after the adults. The larvae of giddy worms are mostly white and beige, and their heads are wide and flat, which makes people completely surprised that the adults can be so beautiful.

The larva of the giddy worm. Picture: wikimedia

For agricultural and forestry production, Jiding is an out-and-out pest, and the larva is a dry-borer pest, which can make the bark burst and the branches die when the damage is serious, so it is also called "bark exploding insect", while adults feed on leaves. Their natural enemies are mainly all kinds of parasitic wasps and birds.

The worm of the jewel

Most of them are small species less than 1 cm in size, while the medium and large ones are the darling of the specimen collection world. they often have a strong metallic color, match colors and patterns beyond people's imagination, and are really moving jewelry, so they are called jewel beetles in English.

The Victoria and Albert Museum, the world's largest museum of decoration and design art, has a collection of embroidered dresses made of Gilding scabbard wings (from India). Picture: alaintruong.com

In addition to being good-looking, giddy worms are also easy to catch. They pretend to be dead. As soon as they are touched, they will shrink up and fall to the ground and pretend to be dead. At this time, we can easily pick them up and take them away.

A dull-looking rainbow giddy bug. Picture: Brian Adler / wikimedia

The metallic scabbard wings are widely used to make specimens, necklaces and earrings, or as patches on clothing, jewelry boxes and other handicrafts and works of art. Today, the giddy bug is still a source of inspiration for some artists. Belgian artist Jan Fabre has a strong preference for gibbons, and he has created a series of works of art with the scabbard wings of gibberries.

Jan Fabre's decorative painting made of the scabbard wing of a giddy worm. Picture: designcloud.nl

A work of art created by Jan Fabre with the scabbard wing of a giddy worm. Picture: designcloud.nl

At all times and all over the world, it is reasonable for people to choose beautiful beetles as decorations. In nature, biological colors are divided into two kinds, one is pigment, also known as chemical color, and the other is structural color, also known as physical color. The color of the beetle is the structural color.

The reason for the structural color is that the fine structures such as wax layer, engraving and grooves on the insect sheath are equal to the light wavelength, and reflect the incident light in a specific wavelength and direction by means of interference, diffraction, scattering and so on. resulting in colorful colors.

Giddy worm necklace. Picture: marknolldesigns.com

Compared with pigment color, structural color is more colorful and stable. In printing, dyeing, textile and other industries, it also brings people new inspiration and application prospects.

Finally, let's enjoy a wave of exquisite clothes and accessories made from the scabbard wings of the gibbous worm.

An Indian dress decorated with the scabbard wings of the 19th century. Picture: blogspot.com

Gibberish brooch. Picture: nasvete.com

An eardrop made of the scabbard wing of a giddy worm. Picture: etsy.com

An incense box affixed to the wings of a rainbow jidingbug. Picture: takumi88.com

This article is the 161st article in the fourth year of the species calendar, from the author of the species calendar @ three butterflies.

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