Yamato tamamushi

Description

Chrysochroa fulgidissima, "jewel beetle" or Yamato tamamushi in Japanese is a metallic woodboring beetle of the family Buprestidae. This beetle is native to Japan and Korea. It is typically found in woods or forests during summer under the strong sunshine and can grow between 30–41 millimetres (1.2–1.6 in) in length. The Tamamushi Shrine, an Asuka Period miniature shrine located at Hōryū-ji Temple, Nara prefecture, was decorated with lacquer and oil painting on wood, gilt bronze plaques, and with beetlewing work using the iridescent wings of the Chrysochroa fulgidissima beetle. Since this insect has iridescent wings that glow lengthwise with different colors depending upon the light angle, one cannot be sure exactly which color it is. Therefore, it gave rise to the expression tamamushi-iro (tamamushi color), in reference to a convoluted statement that can be interpreted in more ways than one. The term tamamushi-iro is used in the context of Japanese officialdom, when politicians or bureaucrats use language that is ambiguous. Chrysochroa is a genus of "jewel" or metallic wood-boring beetles, typical of the tribe Chrysochroini. Most of the many species are native to Southeast Asian nations such as Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines. However, a good number are found in India, one (Chrysochroa fulgidissima ssp. alternans) in Japan, (Chrysochroa coreana) in Korea, and one (Chrysochroa lepida) in Africa.