March 2026: Since the original publication of this tool, nine additional species of Cacostola were described (Martins et al. 2016Martins et al. 2016:
Martins UR, Galileo MHM, Santos-Silva A. 2019. Five new species, one new genus, two synonymies, and new distributional records in Cerambycidae (Coleoptera). Zootaxa. 4078(1):320-333., Wappes and Santos-Silva 2019Wappes and Santos-Silva 2019:
Wappes JE, Santos-Silva A. 2019. New species and taxonomic notes for Cacostola Fairmaire and Germain, 1859 (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae: Lamiinae: Onciderini). Inscta Mundi. 0741: 1-20., Peraza-Flores and Freitas 2025Peraza-Flores and Freitas 2025:
Peraza-Flores LN, Freitas JG. 2025. Cacostola timtim, a new species of longhorn beetle (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae) from the seasonally dry tropical forest of Yucatán, Mexico. Zootaxa. 5636(1):183-187.). These new taxa are added to "Included Species". Other sections in this fact sheet have not been edited to account for these new species.
Distinctly elongate, small to moderate-sized, ranging from about 8–15 mm in length. Integument generally dark brown or ferrugineous with grayish pubescence. Head with frons subquadrate to slightly elongate, about as wide as width of 2-4 lower eye lobes. Eyes with lower lobes ovate to oblong to distinctly narrow. Genae shape highly variable, from elongate to transverse, from shorter to taller lower eye lobes. Antennal tubercles prominent, widely separated; tubercles not armed at apex or armed at apex with small projection or short, blunt horn (males). Antennae slightly longer (females) to nearly twice as long (males) as overall body length; scape gradually to clavate, shorter than antennomere IV; antennomere III shape variable, from nearly straight to sinuate, distinctly longer than scape and about as long as IV; antennomere XI shorter than X (females) or longer than X (males); antennae annulate. Pronotum subquadrate, roughly cylindrical, without lateral tubercles. Elytra with sides nearly straight, roughly parallel; elytral apices individually rounded; elytral markings variable, often with distinct vittae; base of elytra without prominent tubercles at humeri. Basal 1/3 of elytra moderately to densely punctate, surface coarsely punctate to granulate-punctate. Procoxae simple, without projection. Mesosternal process with apex subtruncate to feebly emarginate. Metafemora distinctly short, about 1/5 as long as elytra.
The combination of the following characters will help to distinguish this genus: distinctly elongate form; subquadrate pronotum, roughly cylindrical, without lateral tubercles; and elytra with sides roughly parallel.
Superficially resembles Xylomimus, but Cacostola is much more elongate.
Antilles (Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenadines, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Montserrat, Puerto Rico, St. Thomas); Central America (Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico); North America (USA); South America (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Venezuela)
NOTE: Although Cacostola vagelineata was originally described from Chile (Fairmaire and Germain 1859Fairmaire and Germain 1859:
Fairmaire L, Germain P. 1859. Revision des coleopteres du Chili (suite). Annales de la Société Entomologique de France. 7(3):483–532.), this is likely an erroneous record as no members of this species have been collected there since.
Acanthaceae (Avicennia sp.); Anacardiaceae (Mangifera sp.); Asteraceae (Baccharis sp.); Chrysobalanaceae (Chrysobalanus sp.); Fabaceae (Leucaena pulverulenta); Rhamnaceae (Condalia sp.); Salicaceae (Salix nigra); Ulmaceae (Celtis sp.)
This genus is probably not a girdler of branches (F.T. Hovore, pers. comm.).
The genus Cacostola currently contains 42 species: C. acuticauda Marinoni and Martins, 1982Marinoni and Martins, 1982:
Marinoni RC, Martins UR. 1982. Notas e descricoes em Cacostola Fairm. & Germ., 1859 (Onciderini, Lamiinae, Cerambycidae, Coleoptera). Revista Brasileira de Entomologia. 26(3/4):247–251.; C. apyraiuba Martins and Galileo, 2008Martins and Galileo, 2008:
Martins UR, Galileo MHM. 2008. Novas especies de Onciderini (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae, Lamiinae) da Bolivia. Papeis Avulsos de Zoologia. 48(4):27–31.; C. bimaculata Martins, Galileo and de-Oliveira, 2009; C. brasiliensis Thomson, 1868Thomson, 1868:
Thomson J. 1868. Révision du groupe des oncidérites (Lamites, cérambycides, coléoptères). Physis Recueil d'Histoire Naturelle. 2(5):41–92.; C. cana Marinoni and Martins, 1982Marinoni and Martins, 1982:
Marinoni RC, Martins UR. 1982. Notas e descricoes em Cacostola Fairm. & Germ., 1859 (Onciderini, Lamiinae, Cerambycidae, Coleoptera). Revista Brasileira de Entomologia. 26(3/4):247–251.; C. carinata Martins, Galileo and Santos-Silva, 2015; C. clorinda Dillon and Dillon, 1946Dillon and Dillon, 1946:
Dillon LS, Dillon ES. 1946. The tribe Onciderini (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) Part II. Reading, Scientific Publications, Reading Public Museum and Art Gallery, Number 6. 189–413 pp.; C. colombiana Martins and Galileo, 1999; C. exilis Martins and Galileo, 2011; C. flexicornis Bates, 1865Bates, 1865:
Bates HW. 1865. Contributions to an insect fauna of the Amazon Valley. Coleoptera: Longicornes. The Annals and Magazine of Natural History 3(15):213–225, 382–394; 3(16):101–113, 167–182, 308–314.; C. fusca Thomson, 1868Thomson, 1868:
Thomson J. 1868. Révision du groupe des oncidérites (Lamites, cérambycides, coléoptères). Physis Recueil d'Histoire Naturelle. 2(5):41–92.; C. fuscata Dillon and Dillon, 1952Dillon and Dillon, 1952:
Dillon LS, Dillon ES. 1952. The tribe Onciderini. Supplementary notes. Annals of the Entomological Society of America. 45(1):59–79.; C. galenae Wappes and Santos-Silva, 2019Wappes and Santos-Silva, 2019:
Wappes JE, Santos-Silva A. 2019. New species and taxonomic notes for Cacostola Fairmaire and Germain, 1859 (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae: Lamiinae: Onciderini). Inscta Mundi. 0741:1–20.; C. gracilis Marinoni and Martins, 1982; C. grisea Dillon and Dillon, 1946Dillon and Dillon, 1946:
Dillon LS, Dillon ES. 1946. The tribe Onciderini (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) Part II. Reading, Scientific Publications, Reading Public Museum and Art Gallery, Number 6. 189–413 pp.; C. howdenae Wappes and Santos-Silva, 2019Wappes and Santos-Silva, 2019:
Wappes JE, Santos-Silva A. 2019. New species and taxonomic notes for Cacostola Fairmaire and Germain, 1859 (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae: Lamiinae: Onciderini). Inscta Mundi. 0741:1–20.; C. janzeni Chemsak and Linsley, 1986; C. leonensis Dillon and Dillon, 1946Dillon and Dillon, 1946:
Dillon LS, Dillon ES. 1946. The tribe Onciderini (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) Part II. Reading, Scientific Publications, Reading Public Museum and Art Gallery, Number 6. 189–413 pp.; C. lineata (Hamilton in Leng and Hamilton, 1896); C. mexicana (Breuning, 1943); C. nearnsi Wappes and Santos-Silva, 2019Wappes and Santos-Silva, 2019:
Wappes JE, Santos-Silva A. 2019. New species and taxonomic notes for Cacostola Fairmaire and Germain, 1859 (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae: Lamiinae: Onciderini). Inscta Mundi. 0741:1–20.; C. nelsoni Chemsak and Linsley, 1986; C. nordestina Martins and Galileo, 1999; C. obliquata Martins and Galileo, 1995Martins and Galileo, 1995:
Martins UR, Galileo MHM. 1995. Neotropical Cerambycidae (Coleoptera) of the Canadian Museum of Nature, Ottawa. V. Onciderini (Lamiinae). Insecta Mundi. 9(1–2):1–5.; C. opitzi Wappes and Santos-Silva, 2019Wappes and Santos-Silva, 2019:
Wappes JE, Santos-Silva A. 2019. New species and taxonomic notes for Cacostola Fairmaire and Germain, 1859 (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae: Lamiinae: Onciderini). Inscta Mundi. 0741:1–20.; C. ornata Fleutiaux and Sallé, 1889; C. parafusca Martins, Galileo and de-Oliveira, 2009; C. plotkini Wappes and Santos-Silva, 2019Wappes and Santos-Silva, 2019:
Wappes JE, Santos-Silva A. 2019. New species and taxonomic notes for Cacostola Fairmaire and Germain, 1859 (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae: Lamiinae: Onciderini). Inscta Mundi. 0741:1–20.; C. rothschildi Wappes and Santos-Silva, 2019Wappes and Santos-Silva, 2019:
Wappes JE, Santos-Silva A. 2019. New species and taxonomic notes for Cacostola Fairmaire and Germain, 1859 (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae: Lamiinae: Onciderini). Inscta Mundi. 0741:1–20.; C. rugicollis Bates, 1885; C. salicicola (Linsley, 1934); C. simplex (Pascoe, 1859Pascoe, 1859:
Pascoe FP. 1859. On new genera and species of longicorn Coleoptera. Part IV. Transactions of the Entomological Society of London. 5(2):12–69.); C. sirena Dillon and Dillon, 1946Dillon and Dillon, 1946:
Dillon LS, Dillon ES. 1946. The tribe Onciderini (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) Part II. Reading, Scientific Publications, Reading Public Museum and Art Gallery, Number 6. 189–413 pp.; C. strandi (Breuning, 1943); C. sulcipennis Melzer, 1934; C. thomasorum Wappes and Santos-Silva, 2019Wappes and Santos-Silva, 2019:
Wappes JE, Santos-Silva A. 2019. New species and taxonomic notes for Cacostola Fairmaire and Germain, 1859 (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae: Lamiinae: Onciderini). Inscta Mundi. 0741:1–20.; C. timtim Pereza-Flores; C. vagelineata Fairmaire and Germain, 1859; C. vanini Martins, 1979Martins, 1979:
Martins UR. 1979. Descricoes e notas sobre Onciderini (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae). Revista Brasileira de Entomologia. 23(3):147–156.; C. variegata Dillon and Dillon, 1946Dillon and Dillon, 1946:
Dillon LS, Dillon ES. 1946. The tribe Onciderini (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) Part II. Reading, Scientific Publications, Reading Public Museum and Art Gallery, Number 6. 189–413 pp.; C. volvula (Fabricius, 1781); C. zanoa Dillon and Dillon, 1946Dillon and Dillon, 1946:
Dillon LS, Dillon ES. 1946. The tribe Onciderini (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) Part II. Reading, Scientific Publications, Reading Public Museum and Art Gallery, Number 6. 189–413 pp..
More species images are available in the Gallery.
Cacostola lineata, C. salicicola
Specimens of this genus have been collected at lights and also beating vegetation.
Cacostola Fairmaire and Germain, 1859Fairmaire and Germain, 1859:
Fairmaire L, Germain P. 1859. Revision des coleopteres du Chili (suite). Annales de la Société Entomologique de France. 7(3):483–532.
subtribe: Onciderina
type species: Cacostola vagelineata Fairmaire and Germain, 1859Fairmaire and Germain, 1859:
Fairmaire L, Germain P. 1859. Revision des coleopteres du Chili (suite). Annales de la Société Entomologique de France. 7(3):483–532.
generic synonymies: Aporataxia Hamilton in Leng and Hamilton, 1896; Cylindrataxia Linsley, 1934; Paratucumaniella Breuning, 1943; Hyagniellus Breuning, 1943; Tucumaniella Breuning, 1943; Estolosybra Breuning, 1943
Bezark and Monné (2013)Bezark and Monné (2013):
Bezark LG, Monné MA. 2013. Checklist of the Oxypeltidae, Vesperidae, Disteniidae and Cerambycidae, (Coleoptera) of the Western Hemisphere., Dillon and Dillon (1946)Dillon and Dillon (1946):
Dillon LS, Dillon ES. 1946. The tribe Onciderini (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) Part II. Reading, Scientific Publications, Reading Public Museum and Art Gallery, Number 6. 189–413 pp., Fairmaire and Germain (1859)Fairmaire and Germain (1859):
Fairmaire L, Germain P. 1859. Revision des coleopteres du Chili (suite). Annales de la Société Entomologique de France. 7(3):483–532., Marinoni and Martins (1982)Marinoni and Martins (1982):
Marinoni RC, Martins UR. 1982. Notas e descricoes em Cacostola Fairm. & Germ., 1859 (Onciderini, Lamiinae, Cerambycidae, Coleoptera). Revista Brasileira de Entomologia. 26(3/4):247–251., Martins et al. (2016)Martins et al. (2016):
Martins UR, Galileo MHM, Santos-Silva A. 2019. Five new species, one new genus, two synonymies, and new distributional records in Cerambycidae (Coleoptera). Zootaxa. 4078(1):320-333., Monné (2005)Monné (2005):
Monné MA. 2005. Catalogue of the Cerambycidae (Coleoptera) of the Neotropical Region. Part II. Subfamily Lamiinae. Zootaxa. 1023:1–759., Peraza-Flores and Freitas (2025)Peraza-Flores and Freitas (2025):
Peraza-Flores LN, Freitas JG. 2025. Cacostola timtim, a new species of longhorn beetle (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae) from the seasonally dry tropical forest of Yucatán, Mexico. Zootaxa. 5636(1):183–187., Wappes et al. (2009)Wappes et al. (2009):
Wappes JE, Ledezma Arias J, Nearns EH. 2009. List of Coleoptera holotypes in Museo de Historia Natural, Noel Kempff Mercado, Universidad Autonoma "Gabriel Rene Moreno," Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia. Insecta Mundi. 081:1–8., Wappes and Santos-Silva (2019)Wappes and Santos-Silva (2019):
Wappes JE, Santos-Silva A. 2019. New species and taxonomic notes for Cacostola Fairmaire and Germain, 1859 (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae: Lamiinae: Onciderini). Inscta Mundi. 0741:1–20.
