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Beetles of Zihuatanejo

ORDER COLEOPTERA

Epicauta niveolineata
Epicauta niveolineata

-Animals (Kingdom Animalia)

-Arthropods (Phylum Arthropoda)

-Hexapods (Subphylum Hexapoda)

-Insects (Class Insecta)

-Winged and Once-winged Insects (Subclass Pterygota)

-Beetles (Order Coleoptera​​)

-​Blister Beetles (Family Meloidae)

-Subfamily Meloinae

-Tribe Epicautini

-Burning Blister Beetles (Genus Epicauta)

-Epicauta niveolineata


Epicauta niveolineata is a species within the genus Epicauta, commonly known as a burning blister beetle due to its ability to produce cantharidin, a chemical that causes blistering upon skin contact. This species is particularly striking due to its characteristic coloration. It has a black or dark base color with distinct, narrow white or pale lines running along its wing covers (elytra), giving it the name “niveolineata,” meaning “snow-lined” or “white-lined.”

Diet

  • Adults: Primarily herbivorous, feeding on leaves, flowers, buds, and other above-ground plant tissues. Adult host plants are not sufficiently documented to assign a particular plant family with confidence.

  • Larvae: Have the characteristic Epicauta life cycle in which the mobile first larval stage searches for grasshopper egg pods. Later larval stages consume the grasshopper eggs.

Range

  • Epicauta niveolineata is a Mexican species with published records from Chiapas, Guerrero, Oaxaca, and Veracruz..

Habitat

  • Associated with tropical dry forest, tropical deciduous forest, scrub, grassland, agricultural areas, forest edges, and other warm habitats with abundant herbaceous vegetation.

  • Adults are encountered on foliage and flowers, while larvae develop in soil containing grasshopper egg pods.

  • The Huatulco observations demonstrate that adults can occur in seasonally dry coastal vegetation.

Size

  • Adult length: approximately 10–20 mm (0.4–0.8 in).

  • Body elongate and relatively soft, with narrow elytra and long legs.

  • The most distinctive feature is the contrasting pale longitudinal stripes on the dark elytra, giving the beetle a strongly striped appearance.

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