Adults are approximately 14–20 mm long.
Fine-art photographic collection
Stenotarsia discoidalis
A Madagascan chafer important enough to define its entire genus — and later to anchor a synonymised second genus.
About this species
Stenotarsia discoidalisWaterhouse, 1878
Information reviewed15 July 2026
Stenotarsia discoidalis is an endemic Madagascan flower chafer described by Waterhouse in 1878. It is the type species of Stenotarsia by original designation.
Taxonomy
Animalia · Arthropoda · Insecta · Coleoptera · Scarabaeidae · Cetoniinae · Stenotarsia
Accepted taxon. · checked 2026-07-15
MadagascarBroad range and selected reference localities — not a complete occurrence map.
Madagascar
Central and eastern forest, forest edge and flowering vegetation.
Day-active adult.
Sugary plant fluids as an adult; decomposing organic material as a larva.
Solitary.
What makes this species remarkable?
Waterhouse’s 1878 discoidalis is the name-bearing anchor for Stenotarsia: if the genus is split or redefined, the branch containing this species must retain the name Stenotarsia.
A second genus name, Linotarsia, was later synonymised with Stenotarsia; the classification therefore collapsed back onto the same 1878 species as its reference point.
Records from the Andringitra massif place it inside Madagascar’s central mountain system, where sharply separated elevation and vegetation zones repeatedly isolate local beetle populations.
Sources and scientific references
- GBIF — taxon record/search for Stenotarsia discoidalis
- Catalogue of Life — taxon search for Stenotarsia discoidalis
- Plazi treatment — Stenotarsia discoidalis as type species and Linotarsia synonymy
- Andringitra Cetoniidae study including Stenotarsia discoidalis
- Eduard Niga exact image tag — Stenotarsia discoidalis