A worldwide community photographing and learning about wildlife
Project Noah Nature School
The female of this Leaf Beetle species is normally very small (like the male) with the elytra being the limit of her length. However, when gravid with eggs, she can expand the abdomen to 5 times her normal size. The male is barely able to hang on. I wonder if she can return to her original size once she deposits her eggs. There were several of these couples scattered about on the bushes. Photos 5 & 6 are of a different couple than photos 1-4, but the same species. Family Chrysomelidae.
Forest and secondary growth under the San Cristobal Bridge on the Highway between San Cristobal de Las Casas and Tuxtla Gutierrez, km 25, 1,500 meters.
Spotted on Aug 14, 2013
Submitted on Sep 18, 2013
1 Comment
cf. Metacycla sp.