Species Acropteroxys gracilis - Slender Lizard Beetle

Classification · Explanation of Names · Size · Identification · Range · Habitat · Season · Food · Internet References

Which insect, please? - Acropteroxys gracilis

Small black and red beetle - Acropteroxys gracilis

Beetle ID Request - Acropteroxys gracilis

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Class Insecta (Insects)

Order Coleoptera (Beetles)

Suborder Polyphaga (Water, Rove, Scarab, Longhorn, Leaf and Snout Beetles)

Superfamily Cucujoidea (Flower, Flat Bark and Ladybird Beetles)

Family Erotylidae (Pleasing Fungus Beetles)

Subfamily Languriinae (Lizard Beetles)

Genus Acropteroxys

Species gracilis (Slender Lizard Beetle)

Explanation of Names

GRACILIS - slender

Size

6-10 mm

Identification

adult body slender and smooth-edged; elytra long, tapering to a rounded point; margins (or sometimes just anterior corners) of pronotum red; center of pronotum, head, elytra, and legs black; antennae black, clubbed

Range

United States east of the Rockies, plus Ontario and Quebec

Habitat

woodland edges, roadsides

Season

adults in spring and summer

Food

larvae bore into stems of herbaceous plants

adults feed on pollen and leaves of herbaceous plants

Internet References

pinned adult images (Insects of Cedar Creek, Minnesota)

adult colored drawings [#s 18,19] (Smithsonian Institution)

distribution in Canada; PDF doc (Languriidae; in Checklist of the Beetles of Canada and Alaska)

Contributed by Robin McLeod on 20 May, 2005 - 1:04am
Last updated 9 June, 2006 - 11:06pm

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