Acmaeodera ligulata

Pinyon-juniper woodland; associated with flowering plants including pricklypear cacti (Opuntia species), blackfoot daisy (Melampodium leucanthum), and other desert-adapted vegetation. Occurs in areas with gypsum-red clay substrates and sandstone escarpments.

Southwestern United States: documented from New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and Oklahoma. Records include Quay County and Harding County in New Mexico, and Major County in Oklahoma.

Adults active in late spring through summer; collected in May and June.

• Opuntia camanchica - flower visitortulip pricklypear cactus
• Opuntia woodsii - flower visitorWoods' pricklypear cactus
• Melampodium leucanthum - flower visitorblackfoot daisy
• Heliomeris multiflora - flower visitorshowy goldeneye
• Penstemon palmeri - flower visitorPalmer's penstemon
• Tetraneuris acaulis - flower visitorstemless four-nerve daisy
• Senecio flaccidus - flower visitorthreadleaf ragwort
• Eriodictyon angustifolium - flower visitornarrowleaf yerba santa

Adults are diurnal flower visitors, often found bedded down in curled flower petals during evening hours. Has been observed flying to flowers and actively foraging during daytime.

• Acmaeodera quadrivittatoidessimilar size and flower-visiting behavior; distinguished by elytral pattern and coloration
• Acmaeodera bowditchioverlapping habitat and flower hosts; A. bowditchi typically shows more uniform bronze coloration
• Acmaeodera diffusasimilar flower-visiting habits on overlapping host plants; A. diffusa has more diffuse elytral markings

• flower visitor
• diurnal
• pinyon-juniper woodland
• southwestern United States

• BugGuide
• Wikipedia
• GBIF taxonomy match
• iNaturalist taxon
• Catalogue of Life
• Scathophagidae | Beetles In The Bush
• Eumastacidae | Beetles In The Bush