Sternocera aequisignata

Sternocera aequisignata
Sternocera aequisignata from Myanmar
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Coleoptera
Family:	Buprestidae
Genus:	Sternocera
Species:	S. aequisignata
Binomial name
Sternocera aequisignata E. Saunders, 1866

Sternocera aequisignata is a species of beetles belonging to the Buprestidae family. It's bright metallic green elytra are frequently used jewellery making.

Sternocera aequisignata can reach a length of about 30–50 millimetres (1.2–2.0 in). Elytra and pronotum have a beautiful metallic emerald iridescence. Pronoum is densely punctured.

This species occurs across southern Asia, including India, Thailand and Myanmar.

The female lays eggs singly in soil at the base of the host plants. Each female is capable of laying 5-12 eggs, which take 2 months to hatch. The hatched larva has five instar stages. Stages 1 to 4 remain in the soil for 3–4 months where they feed upon the roots of the adult host plants. The 5th instar can be found above ground, until it returns underground again to pupate. Adult beetles have a short lifespan of 1–3 weeks, though the complete life cycle takes up to two years.

S. aequisignata and the similar S. ruficornis are both consumed by humans as a source of food in northern Thailand, Laos, and China. This is one of the major sources of their decline in that area.

The bright metallic green elytra of S. aequisignata are collected and used as a material in jewellery making.

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Wikipedia