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Beetles of Zihuatanejo

ORDER COLEOPTERA

Acmaeodera trizonalis
Acmaeodera trizonalis

-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 trizonalis


Acmaeodera trizonalis is a species of jewel beetle in the family Buprestidae, belonging to the genus Acmaeodera. This genus includes a variety of beetles recognized for their colorful, often patterned bodies and association with flowering plants and woody habitats. The body is black with three distinct red bands across the elytra (hence the name "trizonalis," meaning "three-zoned").

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 wood.

  • Adults: Feed primarily on pollen and nectar, commonly visiting flowering shrubs and wildflowers. They may also feed occasionally on foliage or tree sap.

Range

  • Native to Mexico and Central America.

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

  • Most common in tropical dry forests and other seasonally dry habitats.

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 frequently found on sunlit flowers, exposed logs, and tree trunks during warm, sunny weather.

Size

  • Adult length: 6–12 mm (0.24–0.47 in)

  • Body elongated, wedge-shaped, and heavily sculptured.

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