Chrysochroa fulgidissima

Life-forms

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Cladus: Protostomia
Cladus: Ecdysozoa
Cladus: Panarthropoda
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Hexapoda
Classis: Insecta
Cladus: Dicondylia
Subclassis: Pterygota
Cladus: Metapterygota
Infraclassis: Neoptera
Cladus: Eumetabola
Cladus: Endopterygota
Superordo: Coleopterida
Ordo: Coleoptera
Subordo: Polyphaga
Infraordo: Elateriformia
Superfamilia: Buprestoidea

Familia: Buprestidae
Subfamilia: Chrysochroinae
Tribus: Chrysochroini
Subtribus: Chrysochroina
Genus: Chrysochroa
Species: C. fulgidissima

Subspecies: C. f. alternans – C. f. fulgidissima
Name

Chrysochroa fulgidissima (Schönherr, 1817)

Synonyms:

Buprestis fulgidissima Schönherr, 1817:229
Buprestis elegans Thunberg 1789a:89
Buprestis fulgida Olivier 1790a:plate 11, Fig. 119
Chrysochroa coeruleocephala Motschulsky 1861:6.
Chrysochroa elegans (Thunberg, 1789)
Chrysochroa fulgida (Olivier, 1790)

Vernacular names
English: Japanese jewel beetle, Yamato tamamushi
日本語: ヤマトタマムシ
Distribution
Chrysochroa fulgidissima

Eastern Asia
References

Schönherr, C.J. 1817. Synonymia insectorum, oder Versuch einer Synonymie aller bisher bekannten Insecten; nach Fabricii Systema Eleutheratorum etc. geordnet. Mit Berichtigungen und Anmerkungen, wie auch mit Beschreibungen neuer Arten und mit illuminirten Kupfern. Erster Band. Eleutherata oder Käfer. Dritter Theil. Hispa – Molorchus. Lewerentz, Skara. xi + 506 pp. BHL. [also printed by Em. Bruzelius, Uppsala the same year: BHL] Reference page.

Links

Chrysochroa - coleopsoc.org

Chrysochroa fulgidissima, "jewel beetle" or Yamato tamamushi in Japanese (ヤマトタマムシ) is a metallic woodboring beetle of the family Buprestidae.

Characteristics

Tamamushi Shrine at Hōryū-ji. Its decoration included jewel beetle (Tamamushi) wings.

This beetle is native to Japan and Korea. It is typically found in woods or forests during summer under the strong sunshine and can grow between 30–41 millimetres (1.2–1.6 in) in length.[1]

The Tamamushi Shrine, an Asuka Period miniature shrine located at Hōryū-ji Temple, Nara prefecture, was decorated with lacquer and oil painting on wood, gilt bronze plaques, and with beetlewing work using the iridescent wings of the Chrysochroa fulgidissima beetle.[2]
Tamamushi-iro

Since this insect has iridescent wings that glow lengthwise with different colors depending upon the light angle, one cannot be sure exactly which color it is.[3] Therefore, it gave rise to the expression tamamushi-iro (tamamushi color), in reference to a convoluted statement that can be interpreted in more ways than one.

The term tamamushi-iro is used in the context of Japanese officialdom, when politicians or bureaucrats use language that is ambiguous.[4]
See also

Beetlewing

Notes

ふしぎがわかる　しぜん図鑑　こんちゅう, page 56. Froebel-Kan CO., LTD., 1999
Rowthorn, C.:Japan, page 370. Lonely Planet, 2005
Stavenga, D. G.; Wilts, B. D.; Leertouwer, H. L.; Hariyama, T. (2011). "Polarized iridescence of the multilayered elytra of the Japanese jewel beetle, Chrysochroa fulgidissima". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 366 (1565): 709–723. doi:10.1098/rstb.2010.0197. PMC 3049007. PMID 21282175.

Japanese business language By Mitsubishi Corporation

References
Rowthorn, Chris (2005), Japan, Lonely Planet, ISBN 1-74059-924-1
Gullan, P.J.; Cranston, P.S. (2005), The Insects: An Outline of Entomology (3rd ed.), Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishing Ltd, ISBN 1-4051-1113-5
ふしぎがわかる しぜん図鑑 こんちゅう (in Japanese), Tokyo, Japan: Froebel-Kan CO., LTD., 1999, p. 56, ISBN 4-577-00033-4