{"id":3740,"date":"2013-01-22T10:38:52","date_gmt":"2013-01-22T16:38:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/?p=3740"},"modified":"2017-05-14T21:37:26","modified_gmt":"2017-05-15T02:37:26","slug":"red-milkweed-beetle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/bug-of-the-week\/red-milkweed-beetle\/","title":{"rendered":"Red Milkweed Beetle (Family Cerambycidae)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Salutations, BugFans,<\/p>\n

Red Milkweed Beetle<\/h3>\n

Red milkweed beetles (Tetraopes tetrophthalmus<\/em>) are one of the BugLady\u2019s favorite beetles (sharp-eyed BugFans may have noticed that approximately every third insect is a BugLady favorite). She loves RMBs because they are in the very-spiffy Long-horned beetle family Cerambycidae (of the elegant antennae), because even when occupied with matters of the heart, RMBs are cagey and elusive, and because they look mighty fine on a milkweed leaf.<\/p>\n

There are 12 to 15 variously-marked species of beetles in the genus Tetraopes<\/em>, the Milkweed Longhorns, north of the Rio Grande, but only three of those are Eastern. They are sometimes called Milkweed Borers and Four-eyed beetles. MBs have divided up the available milkweed species, and most kinds of MB favor the particular species of milkweed with which they evolved. They are found in the grasslands, gardens and road edges where their host plants grow. The BugLady photographed the lovely butterfly-weed-loving Blackened Milkweed beetle (T. melanurus<\/em>), with its heart-shaped spots, in New Jersey.<\/p>\n

[metaslider id=3752]<\/p>\n

The RMB\u2019s scientific name,Tetraopes tetrophthalmus<\/em>, is redundant; both the genus and the species name mean \u201cfour eyes\u201d and refer to the way the socket of an antenna divides each compound eye in two, resulting in a lower eye and an upper eye<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Common milkweeds (Asclepias syriaca<\/em>) are the center of an RMB\u2019s life (though the BugLady found mention of RMBs on Swamp, Whorled, and Green milkweeds). In early summer, a female RMB lays her eggs at the base of a milkweed stem, sometimes inserting them into the stem (she may also oviposit in a nearby grass stalk).<\/p>\n

Newly-hatched larvae\/grubs locate milkweed roots, either by tunneling south beneath the \u201cskin\u201d of the stem or by burrowing through the soil. They dwell in the soil, feeding on milkweed root through early fall (some sources say that they burrow in and feed within the root). They overwinter in the root and may resume feeding briefly in spring before pupating. RMB larvae create earthen chambers to pupate in, from which they emerge a month later as adults.<\/p>\n

Adult RMBs eat milkweed leaves, buds, and flowers. Like some other milkweed leaf feeders, they sever leaf veins \u201cupstream\u201d of their feeding site in order to minimize their exposure to the milkweed\u2019s sticky latex; vein severing is shown to decrease latex consumption by up to 92%. When an RMB gets latex on its mouthparts, it cleans them immediately by rubbing its face against the leaf; if it delays, it risks having the latex harden, gluing its mouth shut.<\/p>\n

Adult RMBs eat milkweed leaves, buds, and flowers and they can get away with being red and black in a green world because milkweeds are toxic, and so, therefore, are RMBs, and red and black are (chorus of BugFans) aposematic<\/em> (warning) colors. Apparently, there are some \u201cprimitive\u201d species of Tetraopes that are not \u201clocked into\u201d toxic host plants and that have less a conspicuous coloration.<\/p>\n

[metaslider id=3756]<\/p>\n

When the milkweeds are thick with females, males (which are smaller than females) become picky, and they favor larger females (plus-sized females have \u201cgreater reproductive value\u201d—they pop out more eggs daily and cumulatively). When males outnumber females, males become competitive. Bigger males not only tend to be victorious, they tend to exclude from their smaller brethren all nearby females, not just the maiden in question. Female RMBs don\u2019t send out pheromone signals (perfumes) to attract males, and males don\u2019t use vision to search for females; males simply fly to milkweed plants (the more flowers, the better) and start looking for a little action.<\/p>\n

The talented folks at Rutgers photographed an RMB and analyzed its flight in extreme slow motion so they could build a flying model of it (and they wrote about it in an article and YouTube video entitled CAD Modeling of Insects and Insect Flight Animation<\/a>). One possible application of this technology—the next \u201cRMB\u201d you peruse might be packing a minicam and perusing you right back.<\/p>\n

Sound Production<\/h4>\n

One final endearing trait of RMBs—they vocalize. But, let\u2019s let Richard D. Alexander tell it. In his 1957 paper called \u201cSound Production and Associated Behavior in Insects,\u201d Alexander wrote that \u201cThe red milkweed beetle was first noticed by the writer to make a sound when it was picked up and held. The noise made in this situation is a rather noticeable, shrill squeaking, produced by rubbing together stridulatory [friction-producing] structures on the back of the pronutum<\/em> and the front of the mesonotum<\/em> [the upper surfaces of the first and second segments of the thorax]. Several individuals were taken to the laboratory and placed on the leaves and flowers of milkweed (Asclepias sp.<\/em>) in a quart jar. By listening at the mouth of the jar, one could hear a soft, almost continuous purring noise [oh, Richard—thank you for that image!]\u00a0 … Apparently both sounds are made by both sexes.”<\/p>\n

Alexander goes on to say that squeaking is produced when MRBs are held in the fingers, are exploring a cage, are stuck in a milkweed blossom, are placed on or fall on their backs, or are fighting (one beetle is gripping another with its mandibles). RMBs combine squeaking and purring when held in a closed fist, and when two individuals meet and touch antennae or crawl over each other. They will purr when standing motionless; but when they are quietly going about the business of crawling and feeding on milkweeds, they may purr or squeak.<\/p>\n

The BugLady saw very few RMBs during the searing summer of 2012 and is looking forward to bending an ear to a milkweed.<\/p>\n

 
\nThe BugLady<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Adult Red Milkweed Beetles<\/strong> eat milkweed leaves, buds, and flowers and they can get away with being red and black in a green world because milkweeds are toxic, and so, therefore, are RMBs, and red and black are aposematic<\/em> (warning) colors. 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