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Beetles of Zihuatanejo

ORDER COLEOPTERA

Acmaeodera setosa
Acmaeodera setosa

-Animals (Kingdom Animalia)

-Arthropods (Phylum Arthropoda)

-Hexapods (Subphylum Hexapoda)

-Insects (Class Insecta)

-Winged and Once-winged Insects (Subclass Pterygota)

-Beetles (Order Coleoptera​​)

-​Water, Rove, Scarab, Long-horned, Leaf, and Snout Beetles (Suborder Polyphaga)

-Elateriform Beetles (Infraorder Elateriformia)

-Superfamily Buprestoidea

-Jewel Beetles Family (Buprestidae)

-Subfamily Polycestinae

-Tribe Acmaeoderini

-Genus Acmaeodera

-Acmaeodera setosa


Acmaeodera setosa is a species of jewel beetle in the family Buprestidae, genus Acmaeodera. Members of this genus are distinguished by their metallic, patterned exoskeletons and their association with both flowering plants and woody habitats. A. setosa features a dark, metallic body with intricate patterns of orange markings on the elytra (hardened forewings).

Diet

  • Larvae: Feed beneath the bark and within the wood of dead, dying, or weakened hardwood trees and shrubs, tunnelling through the cambium and outer sapwood.

  • Adults: Feed primarily on pollen and nectar, frequently visiting flowering shrubs and wildflowers. They may also consume small amounts of foliage or tree sap.

Range

  • Native to Mexico and Central America.

  • In Mexico, it occurs in a variety of warm habitats, including the Pacific coast of Guerrero and the Zihuatanejo region.

  • Most common in tropical and subtropical dry forests.

Habitat

  • Inhabits tropical dry forests, thorn scrub, woodland edges, secondary forests, oak woodlands, and flowering clearings.

  • Larvae develop in dead or weakened branches and trunks of hardwood trees.

  • Adults are most often found on sunlit flowers, fallen logs, and exposed tree trunks during warm weather.

Size

  • Adult length: 5–10 mm (0.2–0.4 in)

  • Body elongated and wedge-shaped, with a hard, sculptured exoskeleton.

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