red milkweed beetle
(Tetraopes tetrophthalmus)
Conservation • Description • Habitat • Biology • Distribution • Taxonomy
Conservation Status |
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| IUCN Red List | not listed |
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| NatureServe | NNR - Unranked |
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| Minnesota | not listed |
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Description |
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Red milkweed beetle is one of three eastern milkweed longhorn beetles. The female is 5 ⁄16″ to ⅝″ long, slightly larger than the male. The body is robust and has broad shoulders. The head, the plate covering the first segment of the thorax (pronotum), and the hardened wing covers (elytra) are red. The face is nearly flat. The antennae are ½″ to ⅝″ long, about as long as the body. They are all black, not ringed with white or gray. The red base of the antennae is inserted into the black eye, splitting the eye into two parts. Two segmented feeler-like structures (palpi) are attached to the lower jaw-like structures (maxillae). The last segment of each maxillary palp is pointed. The pronotum has four small black spots and a raised, disk-shaped hump. Each elytron has five black spots: one in the shoulder region (humerus); a small spot at the base of the elytron near the scutellum; a small antemedial spot neat the suture; a large medial spot near the center; and a small post medial spot near the center. The legs, including the third segments (femurs), are all black. The forward, middle, and back legs each have 5 end segments (tarsi). They appear as 4 segments because the minute 4th segment is concealed by the enlarged 3rd segment. |
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Size |
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Total length: 5 ⁄16″ to ⅝″ |
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Similar Species |
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Milkweed longhorn beetles are found on one or more species of milkweeds. The plant species on which the beetle is found is an aid to identification of the beetle species. Red-femured milkweed borer (Tetraopes femoratus), as its name suggests, has red femurs. The antennae are ringed with white. The medial black spots on the elytra are no larger than other spots or are absent. It feeds exclusively on showy milkweed. |
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Habitat |
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Meadows, fields, prairies, roadsides. Anywhere the host plants are found. |
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Biology |
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Season |
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May to September |
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Behavior |
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Life Cycle |
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Adults emerge in May or later, coinciding with the flowering of common milkweed. In early summer the female lays eggs near the base of a common milkweed stem. When the larvae hatch they bore into the stem. They overwinter in the roots. |
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Larva Food |
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Roots of common milkweed and possibly one or more other milkweed species. |
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Adult Food |
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Leaves and buds of common milkweed and possibly one or more other milkweed species. |
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Distribution |
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Sources |
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| 8/30/2022 | ||||
Occurrence |
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Common |
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Taxonomy |
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Order |
Coleoptera (beetles) | ||
Suborder |
Polyphaga (water, rove, scarab, long-horned, leaf, and snout beetles) | ||
Infraorder |
Cucujiformia | ||
Superfamily |
Chrysomeloidea (leaf beetles and allies) |
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Family |
Cerambycidae (longhorn beetles) | ||
Subfamily |
Lamiinae (flat-faced longhorn beetles) | ||
Tribe |
Tetraopini | ||
Genus |
Tetraopes (milkweed longhorn beetles) | ||
Synonyms |
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Lamia fornator Lamia tornator Tetraopes humeralis Tetraopes tetraophthalmus Tetraopes tetrophthalmus iowensis Tetraopes tredecimpunctatus |
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Common Names |
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eastern milkweed longhorn beetle red milkweed beetle |
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Glossary
Elytra
The hardened or leathery forewings on an insect used to protect the fragile hindwings, which are used for flying, in beetles and true bugs.
Femur
On insects and arachnids, the third, largest, most robust segment of the leg, coming immediately before the tibia. On humans, the thigh bone.
Pronotum
The saddle-shaped, exoskeletal plate on the upper side of the first segment of the thorax of an insect.
Scutellum
The exoskeletal plate covering the rearward (posterior) part of the middle segment of the thorax in some insects. In Coleoptera, Hemiptera, and Homoptera, the dorsal, often triangular plate behind the pronotum and between the bases of the front wings.
Tarsus
The last two to five sections of an insect’s leg, attached to the tibia; the foot.
Visitor Photos |
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Share your photo of this insect. |
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| This button not working for you? Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com. Attach one or more photos and, if you like, a caption. |
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Luciearl |
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Beetle on milkweed. |
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Greg Watson |
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Christin Congdon |
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Nearest major Cross roads Garden View Drive and Whitney |
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Nanc |
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Susan Gangl |
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Alfredo Colon |
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Red milkweed beetle, Tetraopes tetrophthalmus |
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Paula Rabine |
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Loving our milkweed! |
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Lucy M |
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Bill Reynolds |
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Red Milkweed Beetle crawling all over the Milkweed today. |
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MinnesotaSeasons.com Photos |
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Slideshows |
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| Red Milkweed Beetle DianesDigitals |
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About
Copyright DianesDigitals |
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| Red Milkweed Beetle Andree Reno Sanborn |
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About
Tetraopes tetrophthalmus |
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Visitor Videos |
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Share your video of this insect. |
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| This button not working for you? Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com. Attach a video, a YouTube link, or a cloud storage link. |
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Other Videos |
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| Milkweed Beetle ExploringWithGeorge |
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About
Published on Jul 6, 2013 Tetraopes tetrophthalmus, commonly known as the red milkweed beetle, is a beetle in the family Cerambycidae. The binomial genus and species names are both derived from the Latin for "four eyes." As in many longhorn beetles, the antennae are situated very near the eye - in the red milkweed beetle, this adaptation has been carried to an extreme: the antennal base actually bisects the eye The milkweed beetle, a herbivore, is given this name because they are generally host specific to milkweed plants (genus Asclepias). It is thought the beetle and its early instars derive a measure of protection from predators by incorporating toxins from the plant into their bodies, thereby becoming distasteful, much as the Monarch butterfly and its larvae do. The red and black coloring are aposematic, advertising the beetles' inedibility. There are many milkweed-eating species of insect that use the toxins contained in the plant as a chemical defense. |
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| Mating milkweed beetles in the morning, moist Robert Klips |
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About
Uploaded on Jul 24, 2011 The red milkweed beetle, Tetraopes tetrophthalmus (Coleoptera; Cerambycidae) is a common herbivore on milkweed (Asclepias). Note how the antennal base bisects the eye (a trait referred to by both the genus and specific epithet,meaning "four eyes"). Here a pair of them enjoy a summer morning on July 5, 2011 at Killdeer Plains Wildlife Area in Wyandot County, Ohio, USA. |
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| Feeding Red Milkweed Beetle - Hamilton County, Ohio, USA William Hull |
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About
Uploaded on May 24, 2010 Red Milkweed Beetle feeding on Common Milkweed in my yard in Hamilton County, Ohio, USA. May 24, 2010. |
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Visitor Sightings |
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Report a sighting of this insect. |
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| This button not working for you? Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com. Be sure to include a location. |
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| Luciearl August 2022 |
Location: Lake Shore |
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| Greg Watson 7/24/2022 |
Location: La Crescent, MN, backyard |
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| Christin Congdon 6/26/2022 |
Location: Apple Valley, MN 55124 Nearest major Cross roads Garden View Drive and Whitney |
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| Susan Carlson 7/11/2021 |
Location: Medina next to Baker Park |
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| Nanc 7/6/2021 |
Location: Brooklyn Park, Mn |
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| Susan Gangl 7/4/2020 |
Location: St. Paul, Macalester Groveland / Highland area |
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| Alfredo Colon 8/2 - 8/7/2019 |
Location: Woodbury, Minnesota |
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| Paula 7/11/2019 |
Location: 55416 |
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| Lucy M 7/11/2015 |
Location: Hennepin County |
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| Bill Reynolds 7/29/2014 |
Location: Pennington Co. Red Milkweed Beetle crawling all over the Milkweed today. |
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MinnesotaSeasons.com Sightings |
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