Diet

• Larvae: Feed beneath the bark and within the wood of dead, dying, or stressed trees and shrubs, creating winding galleries through the cambium and outer sapwood.

• Adults: Feed primarily on leaves, pollen, and nectar, and may occasionally feed on tender shoots or bark.

Range

• Chrysobothris basalis is distributed in Mexico and Central America, with its range extending into parts of the Caribbean and northern South America.

• In Mexico, it occurs in tropical and subtropical regions, including the Pacific coast and Guerrero.

• It is associated with warm, seasonally dry forest habitats.

Habitat

• Found in tropical dry forests, tropical deciduous forests, thorn scrub, woodland edges, secondary forests, and disturbed wooded areas.

• Larvae develop within dead or weakened branches, trunks, and woody stems.

• Adults are often found on sunlit foliage, tree trunks, flowers, and recently dead wood.

Size

• Adult length: approximately 8–15 mm (0.3–0.6 in).

• Body elongated and wedge-shaped, with the hard, sculptured exoskeleton characteristic of Buprestidae.