Adults are approximately 25–40 mm long.
Fine-art photographic collection
Sternotomis chrysopras reducta
A West African longhorn whose jewel-green adult can emerge from wood associated with cacao, coffee and breadfruit trees.
About this species
Sternotomis chrysopras reductaLepesme, 1950
Information reviewed15 July 2026
Sternotomis chrysopras reducta is a West African form of a large green-patterned longhorn beetle. The accepted varietal name was based on material from Côte d’Ivoire and is associated particularly with Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana.
Taxonomy
Animalia · Arthropoda · Insecta · Coleoptera · Cerambycidae · Sternotomis
Accepted taxon. · checked 2026-07-15
Côte d’Ivoire and GhanaBroad range and selected reference localities — not a complete occurrence map.
Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana
West African forest, plantations and wooded farmland.
Adults are active on trunks and branches in warm conditions.
Adults feed on bark or plant tissues; larvae bore in woody hosts.
Solitary.
What makes this species remarkable?
Published host records include cacao, robusta and Liberica coffee, and breadfruit — the larval stage can therefore live hidden inside trees that humans cultivate for chocolate, drink and staple food.
The green surface is composed of countless light-scattering scales over dark cuticle; abrasion can remove the apparent colour while leaving the underlying armour intact.
The name reducta identifies a geographically restricted pattern form described from Adiopodoumé in Côte d’Ivoire, showing that reductions in a few coloured markings were sufficient to diagnose a regional lineage.
Sources and scientific references
- GBIF — taxon record/search for Sternotomis chrysopras reducta
- Catalogue of Life — taxon search for Sternotomis chrysopras reducta
- Lamiinae World — type locality, distinctive characters and Côte d’Ivoire/Ghana distribution of reducta
- Species host records including breadfruit, cacao and coffee
- West African forest inventory recording Sternotomis chrysopras reducta
More photographs
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