Red Milkweed Beetle

 A Red Milkweed Beetle, or Tetraopes tetraopthalmus on a Zinnia leaf.

Doesn’t this little guy look like he’s up to no good? This is a Red Milkweed Beetle, or Tetraopes tetraopthalmus, a type of long horn beetle common to North America and which feeds on, you guessed it, the milkweed plant (Asclepius ). These beetles have a coloring and pattern similar to a ladybird beetle: orange/red with black spots and  measure about 8-15mm long with prominent antennae. I discovered this one today climbing on a zinnia plant which rubs shoulders with the milkweed plant I installed only a couple of weeks ago. It didn’t take long for him to show up, did it? (Maybe he hitched a ride). Red Milkweed Beetles lay their eggs just below the soil surface, and when the larvae emerge, they feed on the roots and stems. Fun facts: the adult beetles can make loud squeaks, and they store cardiac glycosides from the milkweed plant which makes them distasteful (just like Monarch butterflies) to predators.