Jewels of the jungle

Giant metallic Ceiba borers are forest jewels that begin their lives as eggs in rotting stumps or logs. They hatch into a larval form, and remain in the rotting vegetation for a year or more without exposure to light. There they feed on wood, digesting cellulose with the help of bacteria in their gut, and, as a result, are important recyclers of the forest floor as they turn the fallen trees in compost. The larvae pass through various stages, known as instars, to maturity. As they mature, these metallic looking wood boring beetles or scarab beetles exit the stump as adults and are capable of flight.

Beetles are the largest order of insects, with more than 350 000 known species, although this probably represents only a small fraction of the total extant today. Those estimates may even be off by an order (or two) of magnitude. Beetles, in general, have been successful because of two characteristics—body shape and their ability to adapt and evolve with plants. This diverse and adaptive group represents a fifth of all living organisms and a fourth of all animals! As …