Zulubuprestis

Zulubuprestis reliquia
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Insecta
Order:
Coleoptera
Suborder:
Polyphaga
Superfamily:
Buprestoidea
Family:
Buprestidae
Genus:
Zulubuprestis

Bellamy, 1991
Species:
Z. reliquia
Binomial name
Zulubuprestis reliquia
Bellamy, 1991

Zulubuprestis is a monotypic genus of beetles in the family Buprestidae, the jewel beetles. The sole species is Zulubuprestis reliquia. It is known only from South Africa.[1]

This beetle was described from a specimen collected in 1937 in the N'Kandhla Forest of South Africa, in a region then known as Zululand. It is elongated and flattened in shape, with large eyes. The type specimen was a female measuring 1.6 centimeters long. It is iridescent blue-green in color, darker on the top surface and lighter beneath. The abdomen is brown with a blue-green sheen.[1]

This beetle is similar to those of the genus Neobuprestis.[2]

  1. ^ a b Bellamy, C. L. (1991). A new buprestine genus and species from Zululand (Coleoptera: Buprestidae). Journal of African Zoology 105(1) 77-80.
  2. ^ Levey, B. and C. L. Bellamy. (2013). A taxonomic revision of Neobuprestis Kerremans (Coleoptera : Buprestidae) with the description of a new genus and two new species. Zootaxa 3681(3) 225-40.