Madagascar.
Fine-art photographic collection
Chromoptilia diversipes
A Madagascan flower chafer whose three pairs of legs are built so differently that the difference became its name.
About this species
Chromoptilia diversipesWestwood, 1842
Information reviewed15 July 2026
Chromoptilia diversipes is a Madagascan flower chafer first illustrated in 1842. Its name means differently footed, referring to pronounced differences between the three pairs of legs. The front tibiae are toothed, while the hind legs are much more heavily built.
Taxonomy
Animalia · Arthropoda · Insecta · Coleoptera · Scarabaeidae · Chromoptilia
Accepted Madagascan flower-chafer species. · checked 2026-07-15
MadagascarBroad documented range and selected reference localities — not a complete occurrence map.
What makes this species remarkable?
The three pairs of legs are not simple copies: the front tibiae are toothed while the hind pair is broader and more powerful.
The contrast is so pronounced that diversipes — differently footed — was chosen as the defining name when the species was illustrated in 1842.
Its original scientific plate devoted a full detailed figure to those unequal limbs, preserving a morphology striking enough to define the species for nearly two centuries.