Mexico.
Fine-art photographic collection
Chrysina victorina
A Mexican scarab whose polished surface behaves like a curved metallic mirror.
About this species
Chrysina victorina(Hope, 1841)
Information reviewed15 July 2026
Chrysina victorina is a Mexican jewel scarab with intense reflective colour and a smooth domed body. The brilliance is generated by ordered layers in the cuticle rather than conventional pigment.
Taxonomy
Animalia · Arthropoda · Insecta · Coleoptera · Scarabaeidae · Chrysina
Accepted species; GBIF/Catalogue of Life gives the authority as (Hope, 1841), correcting the 1840 date in the gallery title. · checked 2026-07-15
MexicoBroad documented range and selected reference localities — not a complete occurrence map.
What makes this species remarkable?
Microscopic layers in the exoskeleton selectively reflect light, producing metallic colour that remains after death and does not bleach like ordinary pigment.
The curved body acts like a mosaic of tiny mirrors, so highlights sweep across the beetle as either the insect or observer moves.
The hardened wing cases protect folded flight wings several times their stored area, which deploy from beneath the reflective shell for nocturnal flight.
More photographs
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