Diet

• Adults: Likely feed on fungi, plant juices, pollen or other material associated with woody vegetation, although the adult feeding habits of P. hesperus are not well documented.

• Larvae: Develop in dead or weakened woody material, where they tunnel through the wood and inner bark.

• The species has been recorded emerging from woody branches, indicating a close association with dead or declining plant material.

Range

• Poliaenus hesperus is a Mexican longhorn beetle in the family Cerambycidae, subfamily Lamiinae, tribe Pogonocherini.

• Its known distribution includes western Mexico, with records from Jalisco and Guerrero.

• Around Zihuatanejo, it is likely occasional. Its presence in the Pacific-coast tropical dry-forest belt makes it a reasonable species to encounter locally, but available records suggest it is not among the more abundant longhorn beetles.

Habitat

• Associated with tropical dry forest, tropical deciduous forest, woodland and areas containing dead or weakened branches.

• A particularly useful place to look around Zihuatanejo is recently fallen or dead woody material, where the larvae develop.

• Adults can be encountered on branches and vegetation, and may also come to lights. A closely studied population at Chamela was collected in a Malaise trap, while the species has also been documented emerging from woody material.

Size

• Adult length: approximately 8–10 mm (0.31–0.39 in). Specimens associated with Spondias purpurea branches at Chamela averaged about 8.7 mm.

• Body small, elongate and somewhat cylindrical, typical of the tribe Pogonocherini.

• The body is covered with fine hairs and mottled brown, grey and pale markings, giving it an excellent resemblance to bark, lichens and dead twigs.

• Antennae are relatively long and slender.