Mormolyce phyllodes (3) Tropical Insect Violin Coleopter Ground Beetle Carabid Carabidae

Mormolyce phyllodes cm 6.7-7.5 Tropical Insect Violin Coleopter Ground Beetle Carabid Carabidae, A2 quality (the specimen has defects or slight damages of varying degrees).
Common name: Violin Beetle.

These Beetles possess a flat leaf-shaped glossy black or brown body with distinctive translucent violin-shaped elytra (hence the common name).
This distinctive camouflage protects them from predators, while their flattened bodies allow them to dwell in crevices in the ground or under the bark and leaves of trees. Head and pronotum are very elongated, with long antennae and the legs are long and slender.
Both adults and larvae are predators, feeding on insect larvae. For defense purposes, they secrete the poisonous butyric acid. The larvae live between layers of stirrup fungi.