Monday, July 08, 2013

Photo of the Week

This is a Blackened Milkweed Beetle (Tetraopes melanurus), a new species for me. Like Red Milkweed Beetle (also a member of genus Tetraopes), it feeds on milkweeds, but it favors butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa) rather than common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca). The bright red color and black heart shape on its elytra is distinctive.