Madagascar.
Fine-art photographic collection
Callimation venustum
A Madagascan longhorn that combines metallic blue-green armour, orange-red legs and a flight season of only two months.
About this species
Callimation venustum(Guérin-Méneville, 1844)
Information reviewed15 July 2026
Callimation venustum is an endemic Madagascan longhorn beetle about 16–20 mm long. Its metallic blue-green body, orange-red legs and sharply spined pronotum create one of the island’s most theatrical colour combinations. Published records place adult flight in July and August.
Taxonomy
Animalia · Arthropoda · Insecta · Coleoptera · Cerambycidae · Callimation
Accepted species; the parenthesised authority reflects its original placement in Oplophora. · checked 2026-07-15
MadagascarBroad documented range and selected reference localities — not a complete occurrence map.
What makes this species remarkable?
The body reflects blue, green and violet while the legs remain orange-red, placing cold metallic colour and flame-like colour on the same insect.
Sharp projections on each side of the pronotum form a spined collar between the head and wing cases.
Adults are documented at roughly 16–20 millimetres and have a reported flight period concentrated in July and August.