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Surprise - a species-level ID for this very pretty one!
= Alagoasa coccinelloides (Harold, 1877)
It is a Flea beetle in Ladybird disguise (that's what the species name means)
= Omophoita magniguttis Bechyné, 1955
a look-alike species, widespread in Brazil. Several web images of "albicollis" are in fact this. True albicollis:
www.inaturalist.org/observations?locale=......
colour more brown, spots smaller
short rostrum, with dorsal insertion of antennae - likely Peritelini tribe
Do they really " feed on a great variety of plants"?
Fine you noted which plant it was here - Thapsia (Apiaceae) is a fine host candidate, because species of the related weevil genus Liparus also are on Apiaceae.
Only other mention I found for a host relation is here:
https://www.naturamediterraneo.com/forum...
which I believe is NOT confirmed by this observation:
https://www.naturamediterraneo.com/forum...
because nature of leaf attachment is not like in Allium.
The plant, however, may belong in Apiaceae, and associations with Apiaceae is all I can find:
https://www.biodiversidadvirtual.org/ins...
https://www.biodiversidadvirtual.org/ins...
https://www.biodiversidadvirtual.org/ins...
https://www.biodiversidadvirtual.org/ins...
https://www.biodiversidadvirtual.org/ins...
possibly also this:
https://www.biodiversidadvirtual.org/ins...
https://www.biodiversidadvirtual.org/ins...
but most images are only of pedestrians, not feeding. There is possibility that in several cases, weevils were found crawling on, or sitting under a plant, and this was then recorded as a "host".
Would be worth to establish what the true host range may be - feeding experiments, more field observations - nice thing for citizen science!
This one was hard to find out! I had my doubts from the beginning whether this is a Click - pronotum looks quite unmovable, and legs a bit strong for the family.
I have searched almost half of beetle groups in BugGuide - and last found it where I should have searched first - in "False Click beetles".
It is: Perothops muscidus (Gyllenhal, 1817)
an atypical, and it seems, rare Eucnemid (BG has only two entries, and no live image) https://bugguide.net/node/view/160719
Yes, about a dozen mimicry pairs are known. To complicate further, also some other Diabroticine Leaf beetles, and some Flea beetles show Diabrotica mimic patterns.
Criteria:
- body more compact, harder than in Diabrotica;
- pronotum constricted in middle, no lined side border;
- head with sulci inbetween eyes;
- elytra usually with some puncture series.
Criteria:
- body more compact, harder than in Diabrotica;
- pronotum constricted in middle, no lined side border;
- head with sulci inbetween eyes;
- elytra usually with some puncture series.
