Reported from Indonesia, including Seram; current catalogue treatment should be checked against related Belionota taxa.
Fine-art photographic collection
Belionota tricolor
A jewel beetle whose historical “three-colour” name hides a modern taxonomic surprise.
About this species
Belionota tricolorThéry, 1898
Information reviewed15 July 2026
The gallery name Belionota tricolor is a historical name now placed within Belionota sumptuosa. The beetle is remarkable for a metallic surface that can shift through green, copper and violet across different parts of the body, helping explain why colour forms were once described as separate taxa.
Taxonomy
Animalia · Arthropoda · Insecta · Coleoptera · Buprestidae · Belionota
Name retained as the gallery identification. Some catalogues and specialist lists differ in how Belionota tricolor is treated relative to Belionota sumptuosa. · checked 2026-07-15
IndonesiaBroad documented range and selected occurrence localities — not a complete occurrence map.
Woody vegetation within the documented range; buprestid larvae typically develop in stems, trunks or roots.
Adults are generally seasonal and often most active in warm sunny conditions.
Larvae of jewel beetles develop in plant tissue; exact hosts for this species require specialist sources.
Solitary.
What makes this species remarkable?
Modern taxonomic work places Belionota tricolor within Belionota sumptuosa, so the photographed “three-colour” beetle is a historical colour-form name rather than a separate accepted species.
Green, copper and violet reflections can appear on different body regions at the same time, creating the tricolour effect without three separate pigments.
The same accepted species shows enough metallic variation that several differently coloured forms were historically given separate names before being united.