Key to established species of Acanthoscelides
(Figure 9)
1 Body very small (body length 1.1–2.7 mm); elytra with black integument, often pigmented red in a variable pattern; antennae short, moniliform; hind femur with three individual narrow subapical denticles decreasing in size towards the apex; hind tibia with very long mucro (Figs. 9 A, B)............................................... Acanthoscelides pallidipennis
- Body larger (body length 2.9–4.2 mm); elytra with integument entirely black or entirely reddish, pubescence forming a pattern of spots; antennae longer with more or less dentate segments; hind femur with three wider triangular denticles fused into the base (pecten); hind tibia with shorter mucro............................................................... 2
2 Antennae entirely reddish-yellow; dimorphic, with more protruding eyes and serrate antennae in males; hind femur wider with the 3 denticles of the pecten more robust; elytra with a more defined pattern of light spots (Figs. 9 C, D)........................................................................................... Acanthoscelides macrophthalmus
- Antennae black with reddish base and apex, scarcely dimorphic, with protruding eyes and serrate antennae that are slightly marked in both sexes; hind femur narrower with the two subapical denticles less robust; elytra with spots of low contrast (Figs. 9 E, F).......................................................................... Acanthoscelides obtectus