Eudicella gralli

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: Scarabaeiformia
Superfamilia: Scarabaeoidea

Familia: Scarabaeidae
Subfamilia: Cetoniinae
Tribus: Goliathini
Subtribus: Coryphocerina
Genus: Eudicella
Species: Eudicella gralli
Subspecies: E. g. alleari - E. g. gralli - E. g. hubini - E. g. orientalis - E. g. thyrii
Name
Eudicella gralli Buquet, 1836

Eudicella gralli, sometimes called the flamboyant flower beetle or striped love beetle, is a brightly coloured member of the scarab beetle family, in the subfamily known as flower beetles. Their shells seem to have a prismatic quality, refracting the ambient light to give the green of their carapace a rainbow tint. This species of flower beetle lives in the rainforests of Africa, where it feeds on the nectar and pollen of flowers, but is popular in the exotic pet trade. The larvae of the flower beetle live in decaying wood, feeding on dead wood and leaf litter. Adults reach lengths of 25–40 millimetres (0.98–1.57 in). As in other species of this genus, the males have a "Y"-shaped horn, used to fight over females. The females have a shovel-like tusk, used for burrowing in wood. During their gestation period they will dig into the wood and lay eggs.
Male E. gralli locking horns at the Cincinnati Zoo
Further reading

Vincent Allard, 1985 - The Beetles of the World, volume 6. Goliathini 2 (Cetoniidae), Sciences Nat, Venette [1]
Vincent Allard, 1985 - Réhabilitation de Eudicella gralli pauperata Kolbe, bona species, (nec trilineata Quedf.) (Cetoniidae), Bulletin de la Société Sciences Nat, 46, p. 11.
Vincent Allard, 1985 - Réflexions sur la classification des groupes gralli et smithi du genre Eudicella White (Cetoniidae), Bulletin de la Société Sciences Nat, 47, p. 27.