Diet

• Adults: Feed primarily on fermenting plant material, flowers, pollen, nectar, and ripe or damaged fruit. Some species are particularly associated with flowers of grasses and other plants.

• Larvae: Feed on decaying plant material, fungi, and fermenting organic matter, often developing in plant debris or within flower structures.

• Some species are associated with sugar-rich plant material and sap.

Range

• The genus Conotelus is primarily Neotropical, distributed from the southern United States through Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and South America.

• Mexico has several species, particularly in tropical and subtropical regions.

• Species occur along both the Pacific and Gulf coasts, including Guerrero.

Habitat

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

• Adults are frequently associated with flowers, fermenting fruit, plant sap, and decaying vegetation.

• Larvae develop in moist, organic-rich plant material.

Size

• Adult length: approximately 3–7 mm (0.12–0.28 in).

• Body elongate-oval and somewhat flattened, usually brown to black, with the compact form typical of many Nitidulidae.