Subject: Beetle with False Eyes?
Location: Ottawa, Ontario
August 22, 2014 7:26 pm
This tiny critter is eating my butterfly bush. But I guess nobody will be eating him because he seems to be flying the jolly roger on his butt. False eyes?
Signature: Joanne
Dear Joanne,
This lovely beetle really threw us for us for a momentary loop, because the body resembles that of a Scarab Beetle, but the antennae are decidedly un-Scarab-like. We quickly identified this Leaf Beetle in the family Chrysomelidae as Megacerus discoidud thanks to Beetles of Eastern North America, the new book by Arthur V. Evans. According to BugGuide: “This handsome species with its quadrate, red elytral maculae can hardly be mistaken for any other eastern American bruchid.” BugGuide also indicates: “Adults are commonly found on flowers of many plant species” and “Host plants: Calystegia spp.; Convolvulus arvensis; Ipomoea spp. Flowers of Daucus carota and Hibiscus sp.”
Thanks for the speedy reply!
Mystery solved…
Joanne Pasieka
Ottawa, ON