Cotinis mutabilis (Gory & Percheron, 1883)

Sub family: Cetoniinae / Tribe: Gymnetini / Genus: Cotinis

Large dorsoventrally flattened beetles, body length: 17-34mm, 10-19mm wide. Dosal body matte/velvet, colouration ranging from green to occasionally black or plum. Elytral margins of mid disc sometimes tan/yellowing. Body metallic green ventrally, or rarely black or brownish. Elytra and Pronotum appearing smooth, nearly completely lacking punctations. Pronotum projecting basomedially over the scutellum, nearly completely concealing it from view. Clypeus with apex emarginate/subquadrate, and bearing a frontal denticle (clypeal horn). Frons developed into a forward projecting longitudonal process. Mesepimeron visible from above. Posthumeral emargination of the elytra distinct. Forwardly projecting mesometasternal process present.

The genus Cotinis contains 29 species across 3 Subgenera. The typical subgenus Cotinis contains most of the species.

Cotinis is the only member of Gemnetini tribe that contains a frontal clypeal horn. All species of Cotinis also lack dorsal scales, that can be present in other tribal members.

Considerable variation in morphological features have been recognised in Cotinis mutabilis and Cotinis nitida. The two species can be separated frome each other by differences in body length (C. nitida: 15-27mm, C. mutabilis: 17-34mm), pygidium colouration (C. nitida: bicoloured with an apical testaceous area, C. mutabilis: unicolorous), and metafemur colouration (C. nitida: pale, C. mutabilis: same colour as tibia).

Commonly called the Figeater Beetle or Green fruit beetle, Cotinis mutabilis is an occasional pest of soft fruit including figs, plums, peaches, and apricots. Damage to tomatoes, pineapple and grapes has also been previously recorded. Adult beetles feed on the soft fruit flesh. While pre-damaged flesh is the most susceptible as they are unable to penetrate the skin with their mouthparts, they can utilize their clypeal horn and spined legs to damage the fruit surface, opening up feeding sites.

Larvae are similar to other Cetoniinae, in that they are soil dwelling detritus feeders, living in decomposing organic matter.

Cotinis mutabilis is absent from Australia. It is known from across the lower states in the USA including California, Arizona, New Mexico Nevada, Utah, Colarado and Texas. It is distributed further south through Mexico, Central America and into northern South America. Its range throughout the US is thought to have increased over the last century, including quarantine interceptions in Hawaii.

UC IPM: http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/GARDEN/FRUIT/PESTS/grfruitbeetle.html

PaDIL image set: http://www.padil.gov.au/maf-border/pest/main/140405

Hawaiian Scarab ID page: http://idtools.org/id/beetles/scarab/factsheet.php?name=15184

Goddrich, M.A. 1966. A revision of the Genus Cotinis (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae). Annals of the Entomological Society of America, 59(3): 550-568

Woodruff, R.E. 2008. The Genus Cotinis Burmeister in the eastern United States, with description of a new species from the Florida Keys, including a checklist of the genus (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Cetoniinae) Insecta Mundi 0051: 1-13

Krell, F.T.,  Knight, J.B., Hammon, R., Wheeler, P., Jeffrey, J.R., Eckberg, J. (2015). Northern Range Extension of the Figeater Beetle, Cotinis mutabilis (Scarabaeidae: Cetoniinae), Into Nevada, Utah, and Colorado. Western North American Naturalist. 75. 8-13. 10.3398/064.075.0103.