ItalianTermiteMan
Arachnosquire
- Joined
- Jul 23, 2023
- Messages
- 146
Here we have a preserved male of Petrognatha gigas, an impressive longhorn beetle from central Africa and the only species of the genus Petrognatha.
These peculiar insects develope at the larval stage inside dead Acacia trees, and as adults are splendidly adapted to blend in on its bark not only due to highly cryptic coloration, but also thanks to their remarkable wavy limbs and long antennae that when kept straight looks just like dried twigs jutting out from the plant! As is common in longhorns (family Cerambycidae), females have markedly shorter antennae but otherwise are just as mimetic. All in all, fantastic critters!
Specimen origin: Ghana.
These peculiar insects develope at the larval stage inside dead Acacia trees, and as adults are splendidly adapted to blend in on its bark not only due to highly cryptic coloration, but also thanks to their remarkable wavy limbs and long antennae that when kept straight looks just like dried twigs jutting out from the plant! As is common in longhorns (family Cerambycidae), females have markedly shorter antennae but otherwise are just as mimetic. All in all, fantastic critters!
Specimen origin: Ghana.