Swamp Milkweed Leaf Beetle

Giant Lady Beetle?
August 5, 2009
Is there such a thing as a Giant Lady Beetle? I found this beetle this morning on a milkweed plant (a typical lady beetle would be the size of the flower buds around this creature). The coloring didn’t seem right for a hercules or harlequin beetle.
Tim Doyle
Memphis, TN

Swamp Milkweed Leaf Beetle

Hi Tim,
Though it looks like a Ladybird Beetle, this is actually a Swamp Milkweed Beetle, Labidomera clivicollis.  They feed on the flowers and leaves of milkweed, and BugGuide has this interesting bit of information posted:  “Both larvae and adults of this species cut several side-veins of a milkweed leaf prior to feeding, to reduce the sticky latex that would otherwise be produced at their feeding sites.“

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Location: Memphis, Tennessee