Escudo de la República de Colombia Escudo de la República de Colombia
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✎ Camila Espinosa

✎ Camila Espinosa

✎ Diego Aguilera

Harlequin beetle
Acrocinus longimanusPacific region

  • Generalities
  • Morpho-functionality
  • Lifecycle
  • Distribution

RECORRIDO VIRTUAL POR LA BIODIVERSIDAD DE COLOMBIA
Museo de Historia Natural
Universidad Nacional de Colombia

Harlequin beetle
Acrocinus longimanus

This large insect is easily distinguishable and has sexual dimorphism with respect to the length of the front legs. The females seek fallen trees to lay their eggs. The larvae feed on wood while adults generally seek sap or leaves. Despite having diurnal habits it can be attracted by artificial lights at night, it is also known that some pseudoscorpions use it as a means of transportation.

Conservation status

Extinct

Extinct in the Wild

Critically Endangered

Endangered

Vulnerable

Near Threatened

Least Concern

Not Evaluated

Data Deficient

Morpho-functionality

Elytra

As in other beetles the first pair of wings (elytra) are hardened and serve as protection.

Jaws

The larvae, like their parents, have strong jaws with which they cut the wood on which they feed.

Strength

Much of its strength comes from a protein called resilin that gives elasticity to its muscles.

Lifecycle

After copula or mating, the female chews the bark and opens a hole in a tree and deposit the eggs, this process will take 10 to 60 minutes. She will deposit each egg and cover it with fibers from the same tree. This process will be repeated several times leaving a line of holes in the trunk. When the larvae hatch, they will feed on the bark for about seven or eight months and create a tunnel in which the pupa will take refuge for another four months until the adult beetle emerges.

Harlequin beetle

Distribution

Neotropical beetle distributed from southern Mexico through French Guyana, Brazil, Trinidad and Tobago to northern Argentina. It inhabits undisturbed wooded areas such as rain forests.

Distribution area