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Beetles of Zihuatanejo

ORDER COLEOPTERA

Reticulated Net-winged
Calopteron reticulatum

-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)

-Click, Firefly, and Soldier Beetles (Superfamily Elateroidea)

-Net-winged Beetles Family Lycidae

-Subfamily Lycinae

-Tribe Calopterini

-Genus Calopteron

-Reticulated Net-winged Beetle (Calopteron reticulatum)


Net-winged Beetles have raised, netted patterns on their wing cases and usually sport bright yellow and black colours. This pattern suggests that they are poisonous to would-be predators, or perhaps affords some protection in giving them the look of wasps and bees. If alarmed, they often spread their wings in a kind of threat posture. Adults are often conspicuous on foliage in woodland in late summer, while larvae feed mostly on fungi and are active in leaf litter.

Diet

  • Larvae: Feed primarily on decaying wood, fungi, and decomposing organic matter beneath bark and in rotting logs.

  • Adults: Feed mainly on nectar, pollen, and plant juices, and may also consume small amounts of decaying organic material.

Range

  • Found throughout Mexico, Central America, and parts of northern South America.

  • In Mexico, it is associated with warm regions including the Pacific coast and Guerrero, and may occur around the Zihuatanejo region.

  • Particularly common in tropical and subtropical forests.

Habitat

  • Inhabits tropical dry forests, tropical rainforests, secondary forests, woodland edges, and forest clearings.

  • Larvae occur beneath loose bark, in dead wood, and in decaying logs, where fungal growth is abundant.

  • Adults are frequently found on foliage, tree trunks, flowers, and other vegetation.

Size

  • Adult length: approximately 10–15 mm (0.4–0.6 in).

  • Body elongate and soft-bodied, with distinctly net-like, ridged elytra characteristic of net-winged beetles (family Lycidae).

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