Milkweed leaf beetle

Labidomera clivicollis

The milkweed leaf beetle is a species of beetle from the family Chrysomelidae.
Milkweed Leaf Beetle - Labidomera clivicollis Milkweed contains poisonous compounds called cardiac glycosides. Monarchs (and some other insects) that feed on milkweed can tolerate and store these chemicals, thus making them poisonous to predators. Monarchs, in addition to other milkweed-eating insects, have black and orange warning colors (aposematic) to warn predators that they taste gross. Birds that eat an insect containing cardiac glycosides will basically end up with a really bad stomachache. Once a bird (or other predator) has ingested and gotten sick from eating a black and orange insect, such as a monarch, it learns to avoid any and all insects with similar coloration. Milkweed leaf beetles eat milkweed and have black and orange coloring, BUT they do not absorb the cardiac glycosides from the milkweed like a monarch would. So, they are not actually poisonous to predators. However, insect-eating birds don’t know this, and the beetles successfully deter predation simply because of their coloration and association with milkweed. Habitat: Swamp milkweed Geotagged,Labidomera clivicollis,Milkweed leaf beetle,Summer,United States,beetle,milkweed,milkweed beetle

Appearance

"L. clivicollis" is a small, rounded beetle 8–11 mm in length. It has a black head and pronotum, but brightly coloured elytra; variable from dark orange to bright yellow. The elytra are mottled with black patches throughout. The larva of "L. clivicollis" is bright orange, with a prominent row of black spiracles.
Swamp Milkweed Leaf Beetle (Labidomera clivicollis) Resting on Carolina Allspice (Calycanthus floridus) at the moist edge of a dense mixed forest. Milkweed plants nearby. https://www.jungledragon.com/image/95319/swamp_milkweed_leaf_beetle_labidomera_clivicollis.html Geotagged,Labidomera clivicollis,Milkweed leaf beetle,Spring,United States

Food

There are a number of host plants associated with "L. clivicollis": milkweeds, especially Swamp Milkweed and Common Milkweed; Swallow-wort; Twinevine.

References:

Some text fragments are auto parsed from Wikipedia.

Taxonomy
KingdomAnimalia
DivisionArthropoda
ClassInsecta
OrderColeoptera
FamilyChrysomelidae
GenusLabidomera
SpeciesL. clivicollis
Photographed in
United States of America