''Entimus imperialis'', common name Brazilian diamond beetle, is a species of broad-nosed weevils belonging to the family
true weevil and the
Entiminae
The Entiminae are a large subfamily in the weevil family Curculionidae, containing most of the short-nosed weevils, including such genera as '' Entimus'', '' Otiorhynchus'', '' Phyllobius'', '' Sitona'', and '' Pachyrrhynchus''. In comparison ...
subfamily.
Description
''Entimus imperialis'' can reach a length of about . The basic colour is black. Elytra are strongly convex and laterally compressed, punctured with longitudinal rows of golden-green dots, filled with scales composed by crystals of chitin and resembling little diamonds (hence the common name). Diamond beetles are also used for ladies' jewelry.
The scales of ''Entimus imperialis'' appears iridescent (i.e., exhibit colour changes with viewing angle) because of the presence of three-dimensional
photonic crystal
A photonic crystal is an optical nanostructure in which the refractive index changes periodically. This affects the propagation of light in the same way that the structure of natural crystals gives rise to X-ray diffraction and that the ato ...
s.
[Olivier Deparis and Jean-Pol Vigneron ]
Modeling the photonic response of biological nanostructures using the concept of stratified medium: The case of a natural three-dimensional photonic crystal
Mater. Sci. Eng. B-Adv. 169, 12–15 (2010).[Bodo D. Wilts, Kristel Michielsen, Jeroen Kuipers, Hans De Raedt and Doekele G. Stavenga ]
Brilliant camouflage: photonic crystals in the diamond weevil, Entimus imperialis
(29 February 2012)[Sébastien Mouchet, Jean-François Colomer, Cédric Vandenbem, Olivier Deparis and Jean-Pol Vigneron ]
Method for modeling additive color effect in photonic polycrystals with form anisotropic elements: the case of ''Entimus imperialis'' weevil
Optics Express 21(11), 13228-13240 (2013). This characteristics is probably used as a camouflage and to facilitate intersexual recognition.
[
File:Scales covering Entimus imperialis' elytra.jpg, Iridescent scales on ''Entimus imperialis''
File:Entimus imperialis' photonic crystal.jpg, Electron micrograph of the three-dimensional ]photonic crystal
A photonic crystal is an optical nanostructure in which the refractive index changes periodically. This affects the propagation of light in the same way that the structure of natural crystals gives rise to X-ray diffraction and that the ato ...
s within the scales on ''Entimus imperialis''
Distribution
This species can be found in southwest Brazil as an endemic species.[
]
References
Universal biological Indexer
Wired.com
External links
Entimus imperialis on Flickr
Beetles described in 1771
imperialis
Taxa named by Johann Reinhold Forster
{{Entiminae-stub