Bug FAQTritoma mimetica
Tritoma mimetica · Order: Coleoptera · Family: Erotylidae
Adults have a black head and pronotum, orange-red elytra and scutellum with a variable black margin, and orange-brown legs with black trochanters. They are found from eastern Canada and the northeastern United States down to Georgia, Arkansas and Texas, and are active from spring to late fall, often caught in Malaise traps in summer.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Adults measure about 3 to 5 mm in length and 2 to 3 mm in width.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
Adults are easily collected with Malaise traps during the summer months.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Adults are often found together with related species such as T. biguttata, T. humeralis and Rotitma sanguinipennis. These related species feed on fungi like Amanita and Polyporaceae, and the niche partitioning reduces competition among them.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
The beetles are active from spring through late fall, depending on temperature.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
It occurs in eastern to central North America, from Quebec and upstate New York west to Michigan, Illinois and Iowa, and south to Georgia, southwestern Arkansas and northeastern Texas.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
The name mimetica reflects its intermediate appearance between the handsome tritoma (Aporotritoma pulchra) and the red-winged tritoma (Rotitma sanguinipennis), leading to frequent confusion. A. pulchra is darker overall, with uniformly black underside, legs and scutellum, and a much wider black elytral margin that leaves only a heart-shaped red spot. R. sanguinipennis is lighter, lacking a black elytral margin and showing an orange underside of the abdomen.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 19 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Kansas, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, New York, Georgia, Michigan, Mississippi.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Status: native in North America; native in Canada; native in United States. Source: iNaturalist
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Questions people ask
What does Tritoma mimetica look like?
It has a black head and pronotum, orange-red elytra and scutellum with a variable black margin, and orange-brown legs with black trochanters.
Source: Wikipedia
Where can I find Tritoma mimetica?
It lives in eastern to central North America, from Quebec and upstate New York west to the Great Lakes region and south to Georgia, Arkansas and Texas.
Source: Wikipedia
How can I tell Tritoma mimetica apart from similar beetles?
Compared with Aporotritoma pulchra, T. mimetica has a narrower black elytral margin and lighter colored legs; unlike Rotitma sanguinipennis, it retains a black margin on the elytra and has a darker underside.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Erotylidae)
Blue Fungus BeetleGibbifer californicus
Pleasing Fungus BeetleMegalodacne heros
Red-banded Fungus BeetleMegalodacne fasciata
Four-spotted Fungus BeetleIschyrus quadripunctatus
Clover Stem BorerLanguria mozardiDamages trees, gardens or crops
Slender Lizard BeetleAcropteroxys gracilisDamages trees, gardens or cropsSources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tritoma_mimetica
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-29 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-29.