Diet

• Adults: Primarily predatory, feeding on aphids, mites, small caterpillars, insect eggs, and other soft-bodied arthropods. They also consume nectar and pollen while visiting flowers.

• Larvae: Predatory, feeding on small insects and other arthropods in leaf litter, soil, and vegetation.

• Some species also consume honeydew produced by aphids and other sap-feeding insects.

Range

• The genus Collops is primarily distributed throughout the Americas, from the United States and Mexico through Central America and South America.

• Numerous species occur in Mexico, including the Pacific coast and Guerrero.

• Greatest diversity occurs in warm temperate and tropical regions.

Habitat

• Found in tropical dry forests, grasslands, meadows, woodland edges, agricultural fields, orchards, gardens, and disturbed vegetation.

• Adults are frequently found on flowers and foliage, where they hunt prey and obtain pollen and nectar.

• Larvae occur in soil, leaf litter, and low vegetation.

Size

• Adult length: approximately 4–8 mm (0.16–0.3 in).

• Body elongated and soft-bodied, often brightly coloured with red, orange, yellow, black, or metallic markings.