Checkered Beetles of Zihuatanejo

FAMILY CLERIDAE

• 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)

• ​Cucujiform Beetles (Infraorder Cucujiformia)

• Bark-gnawing, Checkered, and Soft-winged Flower Beetles (Superfamily Cleroidea)

• Checkered Beetles (Family Cleridae)

• Subfamily Clerinae

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Subfamily Clerinae is a prominent subfamily of the checkered beetles within the family Cleridae. Members of Clerinae are found in forests, woodlands, grasslands, and shrublands. These beetles are typically slender, active insects with brightly coloured or boldly patterned bodies, often marked with combinations of red, yellow, orange, blue, black, or white. Many species possess dense hairs and a distinctive checkered appearance. Both adults and larvae are primarily predatory, feeding on wood-boring beetles, bark beetles, and other insects found beneath bark, in dead wood, or on vegetation.