swamp milkweed leaf beetle

(Labidomera clivicollis)

Conservation Status
swamp milkweed leaf beetle
Photo by Babette Kis
  IUCN Red List

not listed

 
  NatureServe

NNR - Unranked

 
  Minnesota

not listed

 
           
           
           
           
           
           
           
 
Description
 
 

Swamp milkweed leaf beetle is a relatively large, brightly colored leaf beetle. Adults are usually 5 16 to 7 16 long but in favorable conditions may be up to ½ in length. The body is oval when viewed from above (dorsally); and strongly convex, dome-shaped, when viewed from the side (laterally).

The hardened plate on the upper side of the thorax (pronotum) is black, unmarked, and three times as wide as long, nearly as wide as the base of the hardened forewings (elytra).

The elytra are usually orange, sometimes yellowish-orange or orangish-yellow, and marked with black or bluish-black spots. The pattern of spots is highly variable. They are in four rows in a 6-4-4-2 pattern (counting both elytra). The upper (dorsal) spots in row 2 are large, and spread over the junction of the two elytra. They often join with the spots in row 1 forming an “X”. The remaining spots are sometimes joined with adjacent spots, sometimes faint and barely visible. The small triangular plate at the base of the elytra (scutellum) is black.

The head is black and is partially visible when viewed from above. The antennae are short, less than half as long as the body. They are weakly clubbed (clavate), gradually enlarged as they approach the tip. The eyes are not notched.

The legs are metallic bluish-black. The last part of each leg (tarsus), corresponding to the foot, has five segments. The fourth segment is very short and is concealed within the broadened tip of the third segment, making the tarsus appear to have only four segments.

The larva looks like a tiny, blackish alligator with numerous spines and six legs.

 
     
 

Size

 
 

5 16 to 7 16

 
     
 

Similar Species

 
     
     
 
Habitat
 
 

Marshy areas.

 
     
 
Biology
 
 

Season

 
 

Two generations: early June to mid-July and September

 
     
 

Behavior

 
 

Adults are solitary. They are active during the day. They can fly but only for short distances. When feeding, they cut several veins on the leaf margin to “bleed out” the milky latex that would otherwise make feeding difficult.

After hatching, a larva may cannibalize nearby eggs and smaller larvae.

Like the monarch caterpillar, the beetle larva stores cardiac glycosides, present in all milkweeds, in its body. This makes the larva and the adult poisonous and unpalatable to potential predators.

 
     
 

Life Cycle

 
 

Eggs are laid on the underside of host plant leaves. The larvae moult four times, drop to the ground, burrow into the soil, and pupate. The last generation of adults overwinter in leaf litter.

 
     
 

Larva Food

 
 

Larvae are found on the same species that adults feed on.

 
     
 

Adult Food

 
 

In Minnesota, adults feed exclusively on milkweeds, mostly swamp milkweed but also common milkweed and possibly others, and on the invasive vine black swallowwort. In southwestern United States they also feed on twinevine.

 
     
 
Distribution
 
 

Distribution Map

 

Sources

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

 
  9/18/2022      
         
 

Occurrence

 
 

Occasional

 
         
 
Taxonomy
 
 

Order

Coleoptera (beetles)  
 

Suborder

Polyphaga (water, rove, scarab, long-horned, leaf, and snout beetles)  
 

Infraorder

Cucujiformia  
 

Superfamily

Chrysomeloidea (leaf beetles and allies)  
 

Family

Chrysomelidae (leaf beetles)  
 

Subfamily

Chrysomelinae (broad-bodied leaf beetles)  
 

Tribe

Doryphorini  
 

Subtribe

Doryphorina  
 

Genus

Labidomera  
       
 

Synonyms

 
 

 

 
       
 

Common Names

 
 

milkweed leaf beetle

swamp milkweed leaf beetle

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glossary

Elytra

The hardened or leathery forewings of beetles used to protect the fragile hindwings, which are used for flying. Singular: elytron.

 

Pronotum

The 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. In Diptera, the exoskeletal plate between the abdomen and the thorax.

 

Tarsus

On insects, the last two to five subdivisions of the leg, attached to the tibia; the foot. On spiders, the last segment of the leg. Plural: tarsi.

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
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Babette Kis

 
 

Labidomera clivicollis swamp milkweed leaf beetle

Labidomera clivicollis, swamp milkweed leaf beetle, on wild bergamot. There were a number of common milkweed plants nearby, but no swamp milkweed plants for several hundred feet. Photo was taken on Sept. 7, 2022 at Barnes Prairie, Racine Co., WI.

  swamp milkweed leaf beetle  
 

Mike Poeppe

 
    swamp milkweed leaf beetle      
 

Dan W. Andree

 
 

Milkweed Leaf Beetle larvae on a Milkweed plant...

I had no idea what it was until I looked it up. I figured it must be some kind of larvae since it looked soft bodied etc.

  swamp milkweed leaf beetle  
           
        swamp milkweed leaf beetle  
 

Alfredo Colon

 
    swamp milkweed leaf beetle   swamp milkweed leaf beetle  
           
    swamp milkweed leaf beetle   swamp milkweed leaf beetle  
           
    swamp milkweed leaf beetle      
           
    swamp milkweed leaf beetle   swamp milkweed leaf beetle  
           
 

Larva

 
    swamp milkweed leaf beetle      
 

Laura Baxley

 
 

Swamp milkweed beetle

 
    swamp milkweed leaf beetle      
 

DeWaine Tollefsrud

 
    swamp milkweed leaf beetle      
           
 
MinnesotaSeasons.com Photos
 
 

 

 
           

 

Camera

     
 
Slideshows
 
  Swamp Milkweed Leaf Beetle (Labidomera clivicollis
Andree Reno Sanborn
 
  Swamp Milkweed Leaf Beetle (Labidomera clivicollis  

 

slideshow

       
 
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Other Videos
 
  Egg Cannibalism (Oophagy) in Hatchling Swamp Milkweed Leaf Beetles, Labidomera clivicollis
naturalistguy
 
   
 
About

Published on Sep 2, 2011

To the right of the sequence, a newly hatched swamp milkweed leaf beetle hammers on an egg.

 
  Swamp Milkweed Leaf Beetle (Chrysomelidae: Labidomera clivicollis) on Petiole
Carl Barrentine
 
   
 
About

Published on Jun 29, 2012

Photographed at Emerado, North Dakota (29 June 2012). Thank you to Blaine Mathison (@Bugguide.net) for confirming the identity of this specimen!

 
  Swamp milkweed leaf beetle larva feeding on the flower buds of a swamp milkweed
thelifeofyourtime
 
   
 
About

Published on Jul 11, 2011

I found this plump larva of a swamp milkweed leaf beetle (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Labidomera clivicollis) feeding on the flower buds of a swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata, Asclepiadaceae). Filmed 07/10/2011 in a floodplain along the River Raisin near Blissfield Michigan.

 
  Swamp Milkweed Leaf Beetle (Chrysomelidae: Labidomera clivicollis) on Leaf
Carl Barrentine
 
   
 
About

Published on Aug 11, 2010

Photographed at the Rydell NWR, Minnesota (10 August 2010).

 
  Swamp Milkweed Leaf Beetle (Chrysomelidae: Labidomera clivicollis) Close-up
Carl Barrentine
 
   
 
About

Published on Aug 20, 2010

Photographed at the Rydell NWR, Minnesota (20 August 2010). Go here to see fabulous images as well aslearn more about the biology of this species: http://www.cirrusimage.com/beetles_leaf_Labidomera_clivicollis.htm

 

 

Camcorder

 
 
Visitor Sightings
 
           
 

Report a sighting of this insect.

 
  This button not working for you?
Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com.
Be sure to include a location.
 
  Mike Poeppe
9/17/2022

Location: near Houston, MN

swamp milkweed leaf beetle  
  Babette Kis
9/7/2022

Location: Barnes Prairie, Racine Co., WI

Labidomera clivicollis, swamp milkweed leaf beetle, on wild bergamot. There were a number of common milkweed plants nearby, but no swamp milkweed plants for several hundred feet. Photo was taken on Sept. 7, 2022 at Barnes Prairie, Racine Co., WI.

swamp milkweed leaf beetle  
  Alfredo Colon
8/8/2019

Location: Woodbury, Minnesota

swamp milkweed leaf beetle  
  Alfredo Colon
11/7/2018

Location: Woodbury, Minnesota

swamp milkweed leaf beetle  
  Dan W. Andree
7/25/2018

Location: Sandpiper Prairie SNA in Norman Co. MN.

I had no idea what it was until I looked it up. I figured it must be some kind of larvae since it looked soft bodied etc.

swamp milkweed leaf beetle  
  Alfredo Colon
7/29/2018

Location: Woodbury, Minnesota

swamp milkweed leaf beetle  
  Laura Baxley
7/11/2018

Location: Hole-in-the-Mountain Prairie

swamp milkweed leaf beetle  
  Alfredo Colon
6/18/2018

Location: Woodbury, Minnesota

swamp milkweed leaf beetle  
  DeWaine Tollefsrud
8/9/2017

Location: Shoreview

swamp milkweed leaf beetle  
           
 
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