Red Milkweed Beetle
Looks Like: A member of the Cerambycidae family (the
Longhorn Beetle family), the Tetraopes
tetrophthamlus is a vibrant reddish-orange beetle. While its head, thorax
shell, and abdomen outer shell are vibrant reddish-orange, its legs and
undersides are dark brown to black. Its outer shell can be slightly speckled
with little black spots and splotches. It also has very dark brown to black
long curled antennae on the top of its head.
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These beetles have taken over and eaten many of the Common Milkweed plants,
which has prevented them from blooming their flowers.
I am curious to see if we get any Milkweed seed pods this fall. |
Lives In: They can
be found in any habitat where their host (the Milkweed plant) will grow – in
gardens, grasslands, fields, meadows, and along roadsides.
Niche: Red Milkweed
Beetles will eat all parts of milkweed and dogbane plants – the leaves, the
buds, and the flowers.
Threats: As these
beetles show off their aposematic (warning) colors, they warn predators that
they are inedible with their red and black colors. It is thought that these
beetles are inedible as they incorporate the milkweed toxins that the plant
emits into their bodies.
Frequency: This
is a very common beetle species as long as its host plant is present.
Reproduction: In early summer,
females will lay her eggs at the base of or in milkweed stems. When the larvae
hatch, they will migrate to the roots by tunneling their way down just under
the surface of the stem or burrowing down through the soil. They may remain at
the roots over winter, feed in the spring, then pupate. About a month later,
the larvae will emerge from their pupa as an adult.
Fun Fact: Red
Milkweed Beetles vocalizes a squeaking shrill by rubbing surfaces of its
segments on its thorax (middle part of its body).
