Diet

• Adults: Primarily feed on pollen, nectar and flower tissues and are usually found on flowering plants.

• Larvae: Develop in decaying wood, stems, roots and other decomposing plant material, where they feed on organic matter and associated fungi.

• The immature biology of M. tetraspilota is not well documented.

Range

• Mordella tetraspilota is a Mexican tumbling flower beetle in the family Mordellidae.

• It is associated with warm, seasonally dry regions of Mexico, particularly tropical and subtropical habitats.

• Around Zihuatanejo, it is occasional, and is most likely to be encountered when flowering vegetation is abundant.

Habitat

• Found in tropical dry forest, tropical deciduous forest, scrub, woodland edges, gardens and secondary vegetation.

• Adults are most likely to be found on flowers, particularly in sunny clearings and forest margins.

• Larval development takes place in dead wood and decomposing plant material, so fallen branches and decaying vegetation may support the immature stages.

Size

• Adult length: approximately 4–7 mm (0.16–0.28 in).

• Body compact and wedge-shaped, tapering sharply toward the tip of the abdomen.

• Typically dark brown to black with four conspicuous pale markings on the elytra, reflected in the species name tetraspilota, meaning approximately “four-spotted.”

• The sharply pointed abdominal tip is characteristic of Mordellidae.