Subject: Black & Orange Banded w/Red Head
Geographic location of the bug: Tulsa, Ok
Date: 09/26/2017
Time: 10:34 AM EDT
I’ve seen photos of the Banded Net-Wing Beetle, but all of those have a black head. This bug has a red head. Is it different or maybe a different gender?
How you want your letter signed: Gloria Famer
Large Milkweed Bug
Dear Gloria,
While your critter resembles a Banded Net-Winged Beetle, it is a different species. As a matter of fact, it is not even a beetle. This is a Large Milkweed Bug, Oncopeltus fasciatus, a species almost always found on milkweed. Since Large Milkweed Bugs have mouths designed to pierce and suck, not to chew, the eaten leaf can be attributed to something else.
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Location: Tulsa, Oklahoma
Oncopeltus fasciatus is the large milkweed bug, not the netting beetle
Oops. thanks for the correction. Guess at some point, we were on auto-pilot and stopped reading what we were writing.