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Beetles of Zihuatanejo

ORDER COLEOPTERA

Agrilus langei
Agrilus langei

-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 Agrilinae

-Tribe Agrilini

-Genus Agrilus

-Agrilus langei


The genus Agrilus is a group of beetles within the family Buprestidae, commonly known as jewel beetles. These beetles are named for their shiny, metallic-colored bodies, which can display an iridescent sheen, much like jewels. Members of the Agrilus genus are known for their significant ecological role, particularly as pests in forestry and agriculture, due to their larval stage, which typically feeds inside trees and other plants.

Diet

  • Larvae: Feed beneath the bark of living, stressed, or recently dead woody plants, tunnelling through the cambium and outer sapwood.

  • Adults: Feed primarily on host plant foliage, with occasional feeding on young shoots and flowers.

Range

  • Native to Mexico.

  • Recorded from western and southern regions of the country, including the Pacific slope, with records from Guerrero, making it a species that may occur in the Zihuatanejo region.

  • Most commonly associated with tropical and subtropical forests.

Habitat

  • Inhabits tropical dry forests, tropical semi-deciduous forests, woodland edges, thorn scrub, and secondary forests.

  • Larvae develop beneath the bark of trees and woody shrubs.

  • Adults are usually found on host plant foliage, sunlit branches, and occasionally on nearby flowers.

Size

  • Adult length: 5–9 mm (0.2–0.35 in)

  • Body slender, elongated, wedge-shaped, and typically metallic green to bronze, with the sculptured exoskeleton characteristic of jewel beetles.

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