A Note on Oviposition and Larval Habits of the Milkweed Beetle, Tetraopes tetrophthalmus Forst. (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae)

Abstract

The stout, red-and-black adults of the milkweed beetle are common during June and July on the leaves and flowers of Asclepias spp. over most of the range of these plants. It has long been known that the larvae inhabit the soil, feeding on the roots of the host. Craighead (1923) found larval galleries extending from root to root in the soil, and upwrards to immediately below the soil surface, where pupation occurs. My own observations corrolborate Craighead's; larvae were found in the soil feeding on the outside of the milkweed roots. Thus the larvae are free-living, terricolous insects, much like white grubs.