Adults are approximately 15–25 mm long.
Fine-art photographic collection
Strongylium cupripenne
A Madagascan darkling beetle with copper wing cases named in a nineteenth-century monograph of one of the world’s largest beetle genera.
About this species
Strongylium cupripenneMäklin, 1864
Information reviewed15 July 2026
Strongylium cupripenne is an endemic Madagascan darkling beetle. Its name means “copper-winged”, referring to metallic elytra that contrast with the usually darker head, thorax and legs.
Taxonomy
Animalia · Arthropoda · Insecta · Coleoptera · Tenebrionidae · Strongylium
Accepted taxon. · checked 2026-07-15
MadagascarBroad range and selected reference localities — not a complete occurrence map.
Madagascar
Forest and woodland, especially bark, dead wood and fungal microhabitats.
Often crepuscular or nocturnal on trunks.
Decaying plant material, fungi and organic debris.
Solitary.
What makes this species remarkable?
The copper sheen is built into the elytral surface; as the curved wing cases turn, the same animal can move from reddish metal to greenish bronze without changing pigment.
Mäklin described the species in his 1864 monographic work on Strongylium, placing one Madagascan beetle inside a genus that eventually expanded to well over a thousand names.
A historical illustrated plate already records the same copper-blue elytra and serial punctures seen in modern specimens, allowing a century-old artwork to be checked directly against the living-looking armour in a macro photograph.
Sources and scientific references
- GBIF — taxon record/search for Strongylium cupripenne
- Catalogue of Life — taxon search for Strongylium cupripenne
- Madagascar Tenebrionidae checklist — Strongylium cupripenne
- Mäklin monograph bibliographic search
- Wikimedia category containing historical illustrations and specimens
- GBIF occurrence and image search