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Beetles of Zihuatanejo

ORDER COLEOPTERA

Tricorynus Beetles
Tricorynus (Genus)

-Animals (Kingdom Animalia)

-Arthropods (Phylum Arthropoda)

-Hexapods (Subphylum Hexapoda)

-Insects (Class Insecta)

-Winged and Once-winged Insects (Subclass Pterygota)

-Beetles (Order Coleoptera​​)

-​Water, Rove, Scarab, Long-horned, Leaf, and Snout Beetles (Suborder Polyphaga)

-Bostrichiform Beetles (Infraorder Bostrichiformia)

-Carpet, Powderpost, and Deathwatch Beetles (Superfamily Bostrichoidea)

-Deathwatch, Spider, and Wood-borer Beetles (Family Ptinidae)

-Subfamily Mesocoelopodinae

-Tribe Tricorynini

-Genus Tricorynus


Tricorynus is a genus of small beetles in the family Ptinidae. These beetles are typically tiny—often just 2–5 mm long—and oval to cylindrical in shape, with a somewhat humped appearance. Members of Tricorynus are commonly associated with dry plant material. Depending on the species, they may be found in stored products, dried seeds, plant debris, wood, or fungi. Some species occur in natural habitats under bark, in leaf litter, or in dry seed heads, while others are occasionally encountered indoors in stored grains or dried goods.

Diet

  • Adults: Adults generally feed little and may consume pollen, nectar or other plant material, although their feeding habits are not well documented.

  • Larvae: Primarily feed on dry, dead wood, particularly wood that has already begun to decay.

  • Larvae tunnel through the wood, producing galleries and gradually reducing woody material to powder and frass.

Range

  • Tricorynus is a genus of deathwatch beetles (Ptinidae), commonly associated with dry wood and woody plant material.

  • The genus is particularly diverse in the Americas, with numerous species occurring in Mexico and Central America.

  • It is occasionally sighted in Zihua, particularly where older buildings, stored wood, fallen branches and other dry woody material provide suitable habitat.

  • Adults are small and often nocturnal, so they are easily overlooked.

Habitat

  • Found in dead branches, fallen trees, dry wood, wooden structures, furniture and other dry woody material.

  • Around Zihua, examine old or weathered wood, dead branches and dry fallen timber, especially where there are small emergence holes or accumulations of fine wood dust.

  • Adults may also be attracted to lights at night.

  • Unlike many tropical beetles that depend on moist decaying vegetation, Tricorynus larvae are particularly suited to relatively dry wood.

Size

  • Adult length: approximately 2–6 mm (0.08–0.24 in), depending on species.

  • Body generally small, oval and somewhat cylindrical.

  • Usually brown to reddish-brown, often covered with fine hairs or scales.

  • The head is partly concealed beneath the pronotum when viewed from above, giving the beetle its characteristic compact appearance.

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