Diet

• Adults: Primarily feed on pollen, nectar, flowers, sap and tender plant tissues. Adults are often associated with flowering plants and woody vegetation.

• Larvae: Wood-boring, developing inside dead, dying or weakened branches and stems, where they tunnel through the wood.

• The specific host plants vary among Rhopalophora species, and some are associated with particular tree or shrub species.

Range

• Rhopalophora is a New World genus of longhorn beetles in the family Cerambycidae, subfamily Cerambycinae.

• Species occur from the United States through Mexico, Central America and into South America, with Mexico supporting a particularly diverse fauna.

• Around Zihuatanejo, Rhopalophora is occasional. The tropical dry forest provides suitable habitat, particularly where flowering vegetation and dead or weakened branches are present.

Habitat

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

• Adults may be encountered on flowers, foliage, tree trunks and branches, especially during warm weather.

• Dead and recently fallen branches are important habitat for the developing larvae.

• Around Zihuatanejo, checking flowering trees and shrubs during the day, followed by examination of dead woody material, can increase the likelihood of finding Rhopalophora.

Size

• Adult length: approximately 8–25 mm (0.3–1.0 in), depending on species.

• Body elongate and generally cylindrical, with long antennae characteristic of longhorn beetles.

• Many species have attractive reddish, orange, yellow, brown or black colouration, sometimes with contrasting bands or spots.

• The pronotum is often distinctly shaped and may be narrower than the elytra.