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Handsome Fungus Beetle

Description:

This Fungus Beetle imitates a Ladybug in color and shape, although larger, at about 1 cm. It also has an interesting defense mechanism: it exudes a chemical from the tibial-femoral joints of the legs when disturbed. In the 1st and 2nd pictures, you can see the droplets forming on the joints after being handled. This phenomena has not been well-studied. In fact much of the biology of this family is not well studied. Family Endomychidae. Larvae and adults feed on fungi. A very similar Leaf Beetle was also frequent at the ultraviolet light and it was often confusing which was which at first glance. For the Leaf Beetle, see: http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/204....

Habitat:

Several of these beetles came to an ultraviolet light. Finca Argovia, Coffee Plantation, Soconusco Area of Southern Chiapas, Mexico.

Notes:

See this article for a summation of what little is known of Endomychid biology: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewco...

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LaurenZarate
Spotted by
LaurenZarate

Chiapas, Mexico

Spotted on Nov 18, 2015
Submitted on Mar 17, 2016

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