Nature’s Jewels: Theodosia perakensis

Habitat: Malaysia
Size: 3 cm

Say it with me: Theodosia perakensis. Ya.. screw that. It’s a scarab beetle. But quite a beautiful scarab beetle, eh? The family Scarabaeidae as currently defined consists of over 30,000 species of beetles worldwide and this happens to be one of my favorites. A distinctive aspect of the scarab beetle, other than their usually bright, jewel toned exoskeletons, is that their antennae are composed of plates which can be compressed into a ball or fanned out like leaves to sense odors. A beautiful specimen of insect.