{{short description|Species of beetle}} {{Italic title}} {{Speciesbox | name = Brazilian diamond beetle | image = Curculionidae - Entimus imperialis.JPG | image_caption = ''Entimus imperialis'' from Brazil | genus = Entimus | species = imperialis | authority = (Forster, 1771) }}
'''''Entimus imperialis''''', common name '''Brazilian diamond beetle''', is a species of broad-nosed weevils belonging to the family true weevil and the Entiminae subfamily.
==Description== ''Entimus imperialis'' can reach a length of about {{convert|16|-|30|mm}}. The basic colour is black. Elytra are strongly convex and laterally compressed, punctured with longitudinal rows of golden-green dots, filled with scales composed by crystals of chitin and resembling little diamonds (hence the common name). Diamond beetles are also used for ladies' jewelry.
The scales of ''Entimus imperialis'' appears iridescent (i.e., exhibit colour changes with viewing angle) because of the presence of three-dimensional photonic crystals. <ref name=deparis>Olivier Deparis and Jean-Pol Vigneron - [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0921510709005273?via%3Dihub Modeling the photonic response of biological nanostructures using the concept of stratified medium: The case of a natural three-dimensional photonic crystal], Mater. Sci. Eng. B-Adv. 169, 12–15 (2010).</ref><ref name=bodo>Bodo D. Wilts, Kristel Michielsen, Jeroen Kuipers, Hans De Raedt and Doekele G. Stavenga - [https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rspb.2011.2651 Brilliant camouflage: photonic crystals in the diamond weevil, Entimus imperialis] (29 February 2012)</ref><ref name=mouchet>Sébastien Mouchet, Jean-François Colomer, Cédric Vandenbem, Olivier Deparis and Jean-Pol Vigneron - [https://www.osapublishing.org/oe/abstract.cfm?uri=oe-21-11-13228 Method for modeling additive color effect in photonic polycrystals with form anisotropic elements: the case of ''Entimus imperialis'' weevil ], Optics Express 21(11), 13228-13240 (2013).</ref> This characteristics is probably used as a camouflage and to facilitate intersexual recognition.<ref name=bodo/>
<gallery> File:Scales covering Entimus imperialis' elytra.jpg|Iridescent scales on ''Entimus imperialis'' File:Entimus imperialis' photonic crystal.jpg|Electron micrograph of the three-dimensional photonic crystals within the scales on ''Entimus imperialis'' </gallery>
==Distribution== This species can be found in southwest Brazil as an endemic species.<ref name=deparis/><ref name=bodo/>
==References== {{Reflist}} * [http://www.ubio.org/browser/details.php?namebankID=1016520 Universal biological Indexer] * [https://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/12/diamond-weevil-rainbow-scales/ Wired.com] * [http://www.virtual-beetles.com/entimus.html Virtual-beetles] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303222841/http://www.virtual-beetles.com/entimus.html |date=2016-03-03 }}
==External links== * [https://www.flickr.com/photos/43228214@N05/4231360250/ Entimus imperialis on Flickr]
{{Taxonbar|from=Q3055098}}
imperialis Category:Beetles of Brazil Category:Endemic insects of Brazil Category:Beetles described in 1771 Category:Taxa named by Johann Reinhold Forster {{Entiminae-stub}}