Frigate Island giant tenebrionid beetle  (Polposipus herculeanus)

Range

Confined to the small Seychelles island of Frégate (3).

View a distribution map for this species at UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre.

Habitat

This arboreal species lives on trees and decaying logs, usually hiding in crevices and under flaking bark during the day, and coming out to feed at night (4). Large trees with flaky bark, fissures, cracks and crevices are preferred for the refuges they provide to hide from predators (4), and the Frigate Island giant tenebrionid beetle is particularly associated with the sangdragon tree (Pterocarpus indicus) (2).

left