red milkweed beetle

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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.

Total length: 5 ⁄16″ to ⅝″

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.

Meadows, fields, prairies, roadsides. Anywhere the host plants are found.

May to September

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.

Roots of common milkweed and possibly one or more other milkweed species.

Leaves and buds of common milkweed and possibly one or more other milkweed species.

Sources

7, 24, 27, 29, 30, 82.

Common

Beetle on milkweed.

Nearest major Cross roads Garden View Drive and Whitney

Red milkweed beetle, Tetraopes tetrophthalmus

Loving our milkweed!

Red Milkweed Beetle crawling all over the Milkweed today.

Location: Burnett, MN

Location: Breezy Point, MN

Location: 5150 Woodridge Road, Minnetonka, MN 55345

I have a lot of milkweed in my vegetable garden. Should I move the plants?
Or how do I deal with this beetle?

Red milkweed adults eat the leaves of mostly common milkweed, and the larvae feed on the roots. They will not feed on other plants in your garden, and they do not harm monarch eggs or caterpillars.

If you have “a lot of” milkweed plants, consider letting them be. However, if you still want to get rid of the beetles, the best way is manually, knocking them into a bucket or pan of soapy water. Here is a link to a YouTube video showing how this works:

Quick, Easy, Inexpensive, and Effective Way To Get Rid of Milkweed Bugs

Location: Lake Shore

Location: La Crescent, MN, backyard

Location: Apple Valley, MN 55124

Nearest major Cross roads Garden View Drive and Whitney

Location: Medina next to Baker Park

Location: Brooklyn Park, Mn

Location: St. Paul, Macalester Groveland / Highland area

Location: Woodbury, Minnesota

Location: 55416

Location: Hennepin County

Location: Pennington Co.

Red Milkweed Beetle crawling all over the Milkweed today.