Milkweed Leaf Beetle - Chrysomèle de l’Asclépiade - Labidomera clivicollis
The Milkweed Leaf Beetle lives much of its life eating and reproducing on the Swamp Milkweed plant. Though it can fly, it has little need to, once it is established on a plant. These Beetles slice open veins on the leaves and drink the liquid that pools out. Despite appearances, they aren’t related to ladybugs, and are quite a bit larger and more solid.
One of the things that many creatures feeding on milkweed have in common is the orange and black markings, most famously associated with Monarch butterflies. It is thought that other creatures resident on milkweed have that colouring as a result of natural selection. In effect, the creatures that look like Monarchs (i.e. are orange and black) are thought to share their toxicity to predators. This is called aposematism, and it is a neat thing to find in a swamp!
Like other imitators that flash the colours of danger, however, the Milkweed Leaf Beetle doesn’t actually pose a risk to predators (that is the genius of aposematism). While Monarchs absorb and retain concentrations of cardiac glycosides from the milkweed that pose a risk to predators, these Beetles do not store those chemicals in their bodies.
Milkweed Leaf Beetle - Chrysomèle de l’Asclépiade - Labidomera clivicollis
The Milkweed Leaf Beetle lives much of its life eating and reproducing on the Swamp Milkweed plant. Though it can fly, it has little need to, once it is established on a plant. These Beetles slice open veins on the leaves and drink the liquid that pools out. Despite appearances, they aren’t related to ladybugs, and are quite a bit larger and more solid.
One of the things that many creatures feeding on milkweed have in common is the orange and black markings, most famously associated with Monarch butterflies. It is thought that other creatures resident on milkweed have that colouring as a result of natural selection. In effect, the creatures that look like Monarchs (i.e. are orange and black) are thought to share their toxicity to predators. This is called aposematism, and it is a neat thing to find in a swamp!
Like other imitators that flash the colours of danger, however, the Milkweed Leaf Beetle doesn’t actually pose a risk to predators (that is the genius of aposematism). While Monarchs absorb and retain concentrations of cardiac glycosides from the milkweed that pose a risk to predators, these Beetles do not store those chemicals in their bodies.