Invasion of the Milkweed Beetles

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.

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).