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Project Noah Nature School
Metacycla sp.
Another species of Leaf Beetle which also develops up to 5 times the normal size of the abdomen when full of eggs. This species is also small, 3-4 mm at normal size, yellow in color with black markings on the elytra. The 4th picture shows a male and female together, the 5th picture is of a single male (found in the same place on 27 July 2016). See also: http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/356....
Found on bushes along the highway between San Cristobal de Las Casas and Tuxtla Gutierrez, Km 18.5, 1164 meters.
Project Noah member thaptor, mentions an interesting detail about these beetles which I had also not noticed: males have wings under their elytra and fly, females have normal shorter elytra but lack wings and do not fly. Perhaps the wings have been lost not to hinder the huge abdominal expansion of the females during egg production.
Spotted on Jul 15, 2016
Submitted on Jul 21, 2016
2 Comments
Thank you thaptor! Yes, very interesting about the wing loss in females! Since the elytra are somewhat transparent, you can see the wings under the male's elytra, whereas there are none under those of the females. Cool.
cf. Metacycla sp.
Interesting - males are normal (winged), while females have shortened elytra, no wings. Did not know yet about that dimorphism.