
	Identification Scientific Name: Chrysophora chrysochlora Common Names: Shining leaf chafers, Rutilines Classification Class: Insecta Order: Coleoptera Family: Scarabaeidae Subfamily: Rutelinae Genus: Chrysophora Species: chrysochlora

Habitat
The 200 species of these beautiful living gems proliferate throughout the American tropics, from the American border down to Peru.

Profile
Some of South America's leaf chafers are among the most beautiful insects on earth. Their shining, iridescent metallic colours make them every bit as stunning as precious stones or jewels. Some seem to be carved in solid gold, such as the famous gold beetle (Plusiotis batesi); others, silver-plated (Plusiotis chrysargyrea), or plated in satiny copper (Pelidnota virescens) or gleaming steel (Pelidnota sumptuosa).

The Chrysophora chrysochlora's bright green elytra, with their shimmering golden and crimson highlights, are much prized among the native tribes of the Peruvian and Ecuadorian Amazon, who use them to make magnificent decorative necklaces and earrings.

The beauty of these gemlike animals can often make us forget about all the problems they can cause. Indeed, beneath the shiny veneer lies a voracious and destructive little creature. Leaf chafer larvae destroy the roots of trees, (especially oaks and pines), and the adults feed on the leaves. Not many trees can withstand this kind of treatment.

Nocturnal insects, leaf chafers are strongly attracted to lights at night. They are often found lying at the foot of street lights where they are picked up by passers-by who keep them, perhaps lulled by their beauty into thinking they really are made of gold or silver.

Chrysophora chrysochlora are much more common than the gold beetle. There are even years when shining leaf chafers emerge in great numbers.