Dressed as a clown
A harlequin was a clown in a costume of bright diamonds. The beetle's pattern is much the same.
The cloud forest · Beetles
Harlequin beetle
Acrocinus longimanus
A black beetle patterned with red and yellow-green zigzags, with very long antennae and enormous front legs.
- Size
- Body up to 7.5cm; the male's front legs are longer still
- Look for it
- All year round
- Where
- Rainforest from Mexico to Brazil, on fig trees and others
Strides after you on stilts. Move your pointer and see.
When to look
Harlequin beetle
Good to know
Six things about the harlequin beetle
Arms longer than its body
The male's front legs can be longer than his whole body. He uses them to fight, and to cross from branch to branch.
It carries passengers
Tiny pseudoscorpions live under its wing cases and ride from tree to tree, feeding on mites on the way.
A pattern that hides it
Bright as it is, the pattern blends into bark covered in lichen and fungus.
Drawn to sap
It is attracted to the sap of fig trees and their relatives, and lays its eggs in the bark.
Long feelers
Its antennae are longer than its body, as in all the longhorn beetles.
The real thing
Photos of the harlequin beetle
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Photos are from Wikimedia Commons, used under the free licences shown. They have been resized, and cropped where they appear in link previews.
How to spot one
Look on the trunks of fallen or damaged fig trees where sap is oozing. They also fly to lights at night. Take an adult with you.
How to help
It needs forest with old fig trees. It is not rare, but it is seldom seen.
Keep going
More from The cloud forest
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