Violin beetle

Mormolyce phyllodes · The violin beetle is a species of ground beetle native to the rainforests of Southeast Asia.

Violin beetle
Photo: Hectonichus, CC BY-SA 3.0
Violin beetle
Photo: Alan Cressler from Decatur, Georgia, USA, CC BY 2.0
Violin beetle
Photo: Dr. Arthur Anker, CC BY-SA 1.0

Taxonomy

KingdomAnimalia
PhylumArthropoda
ClassInsecta
OrderColeoptera
FamilyCarabidae
GenusMormolyce
SpeciesMormolyce phyllodes

Where it lives

Rainforests of the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Java and Borneo.

Fun facts

  • Its flat, violin-shaped, translucent-edged body mimics a leaf, camouflaging it from predators while it hides in soil cracks or bark.
  • Its larvae tunnel through giant, rock-hard bracket fungi up to 30 centimetres wide, using them as both home and food.
  • After hatching, young beetles squeeze out of their larval chamber through an exit hole narrower than their own body.
  • When threatened, it defends itself by secreting poisonous butyric acid.

Play it

The Violin beetle was the creature in a regional daily on November 9, 2026. Can you identify tomorrow's from its photos? Every day brings a new creature to place from kingdom to genus, map and name.

Play today's creature or replay a past daily

Facts and taxonomy adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).