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Beetles of Zihuatanejo

ORDER COLEOPTERA

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Agrilus sallei

-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 saleii


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 trees and shrubs, tunnelling through the cambium and outer sapwood.

  • Adults: Feed primarily on host plant foliage, and may also feed 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.

  • Found in tropical and subtropical forest habitats.

Habitat

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

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

  • Adults are typically found on host plant foliage, sunlit branches, and occasionally on flowering vegetation.

Size

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

  • Body slender, elongated, wedge-shaped, and typically metallic bronze to green with contrasting reddish markings.

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