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Hyperaspidius sp.
A tiny 1 mm spot that turned out to be a beetle with black and tan striped elytra. Ladybug, Family Coccinellidae. http://bugguide.net/node/view/159803/bgi...
Walking on my arm after hiking through heavy undergrowth. Chorreadero Park, Chiapa de Corzo, Chiapashttp://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/1379596003/fullscreen
This tiny Ladybug has turned out to be a well-known and studied species due to it's importance as a biological control agent and predator of scale insects, especially the scale pest of Nopal cactus, a widely eaten species in Mexico. For pictures see: http://nathistoc.bio.uci.edu/coleopt/Hyp... and http://bugguide.net/node/view/338041/bgi.... For its biology see: http://dugesiana.cucba.udg.mx/dugesiana_.... For studies on it's parasitoid species see: https://www.academia.edu/4472810/DINÁMIC.... See the scale of the Nopal (Opuntia) and the work of Nacho Garcia: http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/137....
This is a Hyperaspidius species rather than Hyperaspis trifurcata. The marking pattern is reversed, forming a W marking rather than an M, and the beetle is much narrower in shape. The very wide head is a trademark of Hyperaspidius, while Hyperaspis have a much smaller head.
Hyperaspidius are very poorly known and finding them is a great occasion. Great spot.