Adults are about 25–30 mm long.
Fine-art photographic collection
Plaesiorrhina ochreata
A Madagascan flower chafer whose cream markings are made from fields of microscopic scales laid across dark polished armour.
About this species
Plaesiorrhina ochreata(Gory & Percheron, 1835)
Information reviewed15 July 2026
Plaesiorrhina ochreata is a large endemic Madagascan flower chafer. The adult combines a dark, reflective cuticle with irregular ochre or cream scale patches and powerful flight wings hidden below the elytra.
Taxonomy
Animalia · Arthropoda · Insecta · Coleoptera · Scarabaeidae · Cetoniinae · Plaesiorrhina
Accepted taxon. · checked 2026-07-15
MadagascarBroad range and selected reference localities — not a complete occurrence map.
Madagascar
Tropical forest, forest edge and fruiting vegetation.
Strong day-active flier attracted to fruit and sap.
Ripe fruit, sap and flower resources as an adult; decomposing plant matter as a larva.
Solitary.
What makes this species remarkable?
The pale pattern is not painted pigment: it is built from dense scale patches, and named forms differ in how much of the wing cases those scales cover.
The adult takes off without discarding its armour; membranous hind wings unfold beneath the rigid elytra, converting a heavy, domed beetle into a precise airborne fruit seeker.
Plaesiorrhina ochreata is confined to Madagascar, where its genus became part of an island radiation of flower chafers found nowhere on the African mainland.
Sources and scientific references
- GBIF — taxon record/search for Plaesiorrhina ochreata
- Catalogue of Life — taxon search for Plaesiorrhina ochreata
- Illustrated catalogue of Madagascan flower chafers — variation in P. ochreata
- Royal Belgian Institute specimen image and collection data
- Verified specimen measurement and Madagascar provenance