Today I want to take you to know about the arthropod, the three-belt ring spade armor.
Three-band ring spade nails
Cyclommatus albersi
Arthropods, Insects, Coleoptera, Spadeidae, Ring Spade. Mostly live in environments with high temperatures, high humidity and lush vegetation. It is mainly distributed in Fujian, Hunan, Sichuan and Yunnan. Photo taken at the Red River screen.
The upper jaws of the three-banded ring spade male are red, unusually developed and curved inwards, and are slightly circular when closed together, which is also a common common feature of males of the genus Ring spade. Compared with other "close relatives" of the same genus, the most obvious feature of the three-belt ring spade armor is three dark bands of markings on the chest, several parallel folds on both sides of the head, window-shaped translucent elytra wings faintly revealing delicate wing veins, combined with a tall and mighty body, bright metallic luster, giving people a post-industrial "steampunk" aesthetic. Male insects wearing heavy "armor" will fight for their mates and habitats, so they become regular customers in the "insect ring". The females have shorter jaws than those of the males and are slightly smaller.
The three-banded ring spade carapace is a fully metamorphosed insect with a life cycle of eggs, larvae, pupae, and adult insects. The larvae are white worms that inhabit decaying wood on the forest floor and feed on humus. Adults pupate out in summer and autumn and feed on plant sap, nectar, and ripe fruit.
Spadeaceae are a distinct taxon of coleoptera , with most spade insects in the family Gymterae , with smooth bodies , often spine-like protrusions on the cephalothorax , and highly developed antler-like upper jaws. The Latin scientific name for "LUC-" in the spade family means bright, referring to the metallic luster of most species of insects in this family. The spade character is derived from the Japanese word for the spade-shaped front of the helmet worn by Japanese samurai around the 11th and 14th centuries, which is very similar to the horn-like jaw of the spade, hence the name.
Fan Yi is an ecological photographer. He has won the Grand Prize of the International Garden Photographer Annual Competition for 4 consecutive years and the first prize in the wild animal and plant category of the first China Eco-Photography Competition in 2018. He is committed to photographing the cultural landscape and biodiversity of western China, especially in Yunnan.