Diet

• Adults: Primarily herbivorous, feeding on leaves and tender plant tissues.

• Larvae: Feed on the foliage of their host plants, although the specific larval host of P. duodecimsignata is not well documented.

• Like other members of Chrysomelidae, adults and larvae are closely associated with their host plants.

Range

• Phytodectoidea duodecimsignata is a Neotropical leaf beetle occurring in Mexico and Central America.

• It is associated with warm tropical and subtropical regions, including Guerrero and the Pacific slope of Mexico.

• The species occurs in the Zihuatanejo area, where the tropical dry-forest environment provides suitable habitat.

• Around Zihuatanejo, it is occasional, and is most likely to be encountered where suitable leafy host plants are abundant.

Habitat

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

• Adults are generally found on leaves and low vegetation, particularly in sunny clearings and along forest margins.

• The species' relatively small size and tendency to remain on the underside of leaves can make it easy to overlook.

Size

• Adult length: approximately 6–9 mm (0.24–0.35 in).

• Body broadly oval and somewhat convex.

• Usually yellowish, orange or reddish-brown with contrasting dark spots on the elytra.

• The species name duodecimsignata means approximately “twelve-marked,” referring to its characteristic spotted pattern.