Other Common Names
Red Milkweed Beetle, Milkweed Borer
Numbers
There are
26 species of Tetraopes, 13 species occur in the United States and Canada + new sp., T. huetheri Skillman, from South Dakota, see below
Identification
Bright red to gray longhorn beetles associated with milkweed.
Range
Range from Guatemala to Canada
Habitat
Fields, etc. with hostplants.
Season
Typically late spring-summer.
Food
Adults feed on leaves of milkweed, Asclepias species.
Life Cycle
Larvae live in soil and feed externally on roots of host.
Remarks
Larval root feeding is unique to Tetraopes in the subfamily Lamiinae.
Print References
Dillon, pp. 657-658, plate LXV--T. melanurus, tetraophthalmus, femoratus
(1)
Yanega, p. 147, figs. 232-239, plate 20--T. pilosus, annulatus, texanus, femoratus, tetrophthalmus, melanurus, discoideus, quninquemaculatus
(2)
Sikes, p. 218, reports T. tetrophthalmus and melanurus from Rhode Island, quotes reference on life history of larvae.
(4)
Farrell, B.D., & C. Mitter. 1998. The timing of insect/plant diversification: might Tetraopes (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) and Asclepias (Asclepiadaceae) have co-evolved? Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 63: 553–577
(PDF).
Skillman, F.W., Jr. 2007. A new species of Tetraopes Schoenherr (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae). Insecta Mundi 0008: 1-3.
(PDF)Internet References
North Carolina State University Entomology Collection lists six species from that state, with number pinned:
femoratus (48), melanurus (46), tetrophthalmus (281) (annulatus, basalis, & discoideus single digits).
26 species of Tetraopes - Photographic Catalog of the Cerambycidae of the New World
