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Black Leaf Beetle with bright red elytra, 8 mm in length. Family Chrysomelidae. I have never seen this one before. This may be of the genus Isotes (https://www.naturalista.mx/taxa/253206-I...). This article shows a beetle with red elytra with black spots. In the photos above, you can see faint black markings in the same place as the black spots of the ones in the article. It may be a variant of the same species, specifically Isotes octosignata. However, based on the information given below by thaptor, it seems this is an unresolved species as yet.
Semi-rural residential area, San Cristobal de Las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico, 2,200 meters.
Spotted on Jun 9, 2018
Submitted on Aug 2, 2018
6 Comments
Nice - you collect in cases!
Maybe Francisco Acosta has an idea, or knows who may like to see the specimen - he is very active in NaturaLista, and entomologist, it seems.
https://www.inaturalist.org/people/franc...
https://www.facebook.com/FranciscoAcGo
OK thaptor, thank you. I have the beetle pinned in case someone would like to see it.
I was also tempted to believe this is octosignata with no dots - but in comparison, I see important differences:
- I. octosignata has a pair of deep dimples on pronotum, yours don 't;
- I. octosignata has the elytra very smooth, yours clearly punctate (thus not as shiny);
- The basal segments of antennae considerably shorter in yours than in I. octosignata;
- fine hairs on elytra in yours (cannot be compared in I. octosignata because of insufficient photos- but this is quite unusual in the whole of the group).
I. dilatata may be an option:
http://www.sil.si.edu/DigitalCollections... (no image),
but the antennae again are described different. I fear this is an unresolved case, at moment . . .
Isotes octosignata: https://www.naturalista.mx/observations/...
Yes thaptor, you are probably right. Now that I've looked at Isotes octosignata, It could be the same species without the clearly defined black spots on the elytra. This one has very faint black spots in the same places that I hadn't noticed before.
maybe this genus?
https://www.naturalista.mx/taxa/253206-I...