Violin Beetle

Name for a species of ground beetle in the Carabidae family, with the scientific designation Mormolyce phyllodes, and commonly known as the Violin Beetle, Fiddle Beetle and Malaysian Leaf Beetle. It has a body size of about 8 to 9 centimeters, with long black legs and lateral kidney-shaped, brownish plate-wings, that are rough and surround the posterior part of the thorax, which is brown. This, in combination with the 1.5 to 1.8 centimeter long, black head and dark, elongated pronotum, i.e. the front part of the thorax, gives this species a shape resembling that of a violin or fiddle, hence its common name. The Violin Beetle occurs in southern Thailand and on the Malaysian Peninsula, and is depicted on a Thai postage stamp of 2001 (fig.). In Thai, it is known as duang din pihk phaen, i.e. ‘plate-winged ground beetle’, ‘sheet-winged ground beetle’ or ‘flake-winged ground beetle’. 回