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Raising and Overwintering Labidomera clivicollis (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)

Labidomera clivicollis is the insect species I know best because of how much time I have spent observing them after raising hundreds through multiple generations. I hold tremendous affection for them.

Adult, one day after emerging from pupa:


In this article, I will briefly discuss finding, housing, life cycle, and care, and I am happy to answer any questions based on my limited experience.

Labidomera clivicollis mating:


I have not found much literature on this species and I don't personally know of anyone else interested in this species. It's my belief that these guys are likely a threatened species, as they are solely dependent on milkweed and can survive on nothing else. With the destruction of their habitat, all creatures dependent on milkweed could be endangered. This includes the well-known Monarch butterfly, but also Queens, milkweed tussock moths, milkweed bugs, milkweed beetles, and more. As of 2021, it's been several years since I have seen one of these guys in the wild: I am only able to photograph these guys because I have raised my own through multiple generations.

Labidomera clivicollis are very easy to raise; HOWEVER, it requires a year-round supply of healthy milkweed plants. In my area, milkweed is gold, and when the nurseries do stock it, customers rush in to fight over it. Nurseries capitalise on this and sometimes price gouge while at other times sell plants poisoned with systemic pesticides to unsuspecting customers trying to assist Monarchs during spring migration. In 2019, for example, a local nursery sold hundreds of poisoned plants to central Texans, killing off large numbers of already threatened creatures, and two weeks later, sold dozens more poisoned plants from a different supplier. I am paranoid about plants that don't have aphids on them, and I actually breed Oleander aphids (Aphis nerii) on new plants until I know I can trust the plant to be safe.

Labidomera clivicollis adult with 4th-instar larva:


Native milkweeds sold from nurseries in my area are rare, expensive, and generally do quite poorly, so most commonly sold is Asclepias curassavica, native to the American tropics.
Asclepias curassavica:


I keep as many milkweed plants as I can inside over the winter, schlepping them outside on every milder or sunnier day, and then back inside. It's quite a challenge keeping the plants in good health and leafing out all year, but if you can accomplish this, then raising the beetles is easy.


FINDING Labidomera clivicollis

Some online sources say that L. clivicollis can fly, but I have *never* seen one fly, not even the shortest distance. They crawl a bit, but, from what I can tell, do not move about much, and are therefore likely hyperlocalised in patches of milkweed. Finding a patch of milkweed is very difficult in my area, and then finding the clivicollis there is even rarer.
In my case, I live in the tiniest legal-sized urban yard, but managed to create a very small milkweed habitat. I was quite fortunate one year: Labidomera clivicollis appeared in my yard, likely having come as eggs on plants I purchased from nurseries. When I first saw the larvae, I didn't know what they were. I later became intimately familiar with them after raising them in the hundreds.
That same year, I also found some at a park a few counties south of me in an area where they destroy the butterfly garden each fall and build a new one each spring, unaware of how they are destroying the creatures who depend on those plants, even through winter. I sneaked in some small containers and clippers and brought home their remaining Labidomera clivicollis before they destroyed the garden. After that year, they stopped planting milkweed.


HOUSING

Overwintering these guys is quite easy, as long as you have the plants. I simply put down many potted plants on tarp (mostly one-gallon size) and placed my beetles on the plants. They were loose in the house the first year, but almost never left the plant. The alternative is to put the plants inside 30-inch or taller butterfly cages. I use T5 grow lights over each cage. I now keep everyone safely contained in 36-inch tall cages under grow lights.
Larvae must be contained in cages, as they crawl off the plant quite a bit and definitely crawl away to pupate. Butterfly cages work well as they allow for misting and viewing, keep the beetles contained, and let the air flow through to maintain healthy bugs and plants.
The most critical housing for a Labidomera clivicollis is a healthy milkweed plant.


LIFE CYCLE

(Complete metamorphosis)
Labidomera clivicollis mating, and pre-pupal larva with freshly eclosing adult:


1. egg
Labidomera clivicollis generally lay their eggs on milkweed leaves (generally, but not always, on the underside). However, it's been my observation that they will lay eggs just about anywhere: on completely wrong plants, on foreign substrates, on fencing, on the sides of pots holding plants, pretty much anywhere. I've learned to move eggs with a very soft paintbrush and place them on protected milkweed plants.


Adult laying eggs on flowerpot of milkweed plant.

See VIDEO of adult laying eggs here.

Oh, sweetie, please don't lay your eggs on the tarp.


a better place to lay eggs: underside of Asclepias curassavica leaf:


eggs ready to hatch:


I think the hatching time depends on environmental factors, but mine generally hatched in around 6 days on average.

hatching larvae:








CAUTION: Larvae in all four instars will occasionally eat eggs, even when an abundance of hostplant is supplied. I have observed this in each stage of development, even though it's not too common. It's possible that an adult would eat eggs, but I have never observed this. You can protect the eggs by moving them to a different plant.

See Egg cannibalism by larvae and adults of the milkweed leaf beetle (Labidomera clivicollis, Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)

2. larva
There are four instars that you will get to know well if you raise these guys. They are much like caterpillars and are easy to raise, move, and care for. In addition, they play nicely together, a joy for the humans who care for them.

Labidomera clivicollis, 4 instars:


moulting
Moulting looks rather like death and can be a scary sight. They often hang from the underside of a leaf or stem to moult. As with caterpillars, it is critical to avoid disturbing these guys or their plants in any way while they are moulting.


This larva is moulting (left) and then eating the exuvia (right): (video link below)


WATCH this freshly moulted Labidomera clivicollis eat the exuvia here.

The final moult will be in soil. The larva will drop from the plant and crawl to a place to pupate.

Fourth-instar larva burrowing head first in order to pupate in the soil:


Prepupal fourth-instar larva assumes position for pupation, followed by pupa:


An unusual prepupal position (click the thumbnail to see full series prepupal through eclosion): Much more commonly, they position themselves as pictured above.


Shed exuviae of fresh pupa (note the details, such as spiracles):


3. pupa
These beetles pupate in the soil, so it's important to provide loose soil that will not be disturbed. Of the hundreds that I raised, only a small handful pupated right at the surface of the soil so I was able to watch the process. Pupae are flexible and mobile. When I mist or gently move the container of soil, I see movement in the pupae. In peak times, mine generally emerged around 10 days later.

Even in this newly formed pupa (first two images), you can see all the adults parts.

Here's a close-up of the wing structure visible in the pupa:

Pupa with freshly shed exuvia:


Pupa showing details of beetle parts:


Dorsal and ventral view of pupae:


Pupae with eclosing adult:


4. adult
This adult is seen emerging at 11:06am,11:38am 12:17pm, and 12:28pm expelling waste:


This beetle pupates on the surface of the soil and then ecloses:


See VIDEO of eclosion.


CARE

Raising Labidomera clivicollis is much like raising Lepidoptera species, especially burrowing ones. The larvae are easy to handle. Not too much goes wrong with these guys, and if it does, it's usually in the pupal stage. Mine were quite successful and very prolific and long-lived when raised inside. Outside, they don't do well: Polistes eat the larvae and adults die off early.
Daily care is recommended and plants must be kept healthy and misted when necessary. Cages must be cleaned daily with paper at the bottom of the cage changed to remove frass and leaf parts.

Caution: Leaf parts at the bottom of the cage quite often have larvae attached to them. Check every fragment of every leaf and every corner of paper at the bottom of the cage for larvae. The larvae will also be on the sides of pots and in the saucers holding the plants; therefore, the saucer must be checked before watering, and then changed out with a fresh saucer. Larvae will also climb up the net: it's generally safe to leave them there as they might be preparing to moult.

Since Labidomera clivicollis burrow in soil to pupate, containers of fresh loose soil must be available, and this soil must be misted with a fine mist sprayer and never disturbed.
I would recommend the largest possible butterfly cages as the safest housing to contain these creatures. I use separate cages for adults and larvae since larvae can be quite messy (like caterpillars!).

Labidomera clivicollis freshly emerged from soil and about to have their first meal:


Moving
Moving these beetles is easy. The tiniest one-day old larvae can be moved with toothpicks by luring them onto it. Let them crawl by themselves onto a safe leaf. When they are a bit bigger, I use slips of paper. With older larvae, I just use my hands, as I would with caterpillars. Adult beetles often act like beetles and drop, so it's important not to disturb or frighten them. I just pick them up with my hands or get them to crawl onto a little piece of paper (I kept small slips of paper all around for this purpose). I then put the paper near a good horizontal leaf and let them crawl on to it. Adult Labidomera clivicollis will often "play dead" after dropping. They curl in their legs and go completely still. I put them upright on a horizontal leaf (they sometimes don't hold on or use their legs when disturbed so it's critical that the leaf be horizontal and flat to hold them). Then I wait until they gradually extend a leg and hold on. Afterwards, they'll extend another leg and eventually walk. It's important to stay with them until they grasp the leaf (maybe a few minutes) because the "dead" version can roll right off the leaf. I've picked up these beetles outside and thought they were dead until they later started crawling. Now that I have handled so many of these beetles, I can tell by their weight and sometimes by their colouring and general posture that they are indeed alive and just playing dead. If they fall on their backs, they often cannot turn over, so it's important to keep an eye on them and keep them safe.
Moving Eggs: It's sometimes necessary to move eggs, as Labidomera clivicollis will often lay eggs in strange places, including wrong plants, sides of flower pots, and other dangerous places. I just use my finger and very gently move across the surface where the eggs were laid. The eggs stick to my finger. I then very gently rub them onto a leaf of a milkweed plant. I've done this numerous times and have seen that the larvae hatch as usual but are now in a much safer place.

Behaviour
Labidomera clivicollis are pretty chill in their behaviour and are very gentle creatures. It's been my observation that they are more active at night than during the day. In my garden, they are often hard to find during the day, but at night, I find them crawling to the top of the plants, munching and mating. Likewise, larvae are more active nocturnally. During the day, they usually rest on the underside of leaves.

During mating, males ride of the backs of females, sometimes for many hours. Males can be somewhat aggressive when trying to mate, but they are often smaller or much smaller than the females.

On a few occasions, I have observed an adult male attempting to mate with a fourth-instar (final-instar) larva. Hint: This doesn't work. If the gentlemen want to succeed in hearing the pitter-patter of little tarsi, they will have to wait for the larvae to finish growing up, pupate, eclose as adults, and be females.


and




There is significant variation in size in both sexes, perhaps in part related to the larval diet. The smallest adults are not much larger than a Harmonia axyridis, with the larger ones more than twice their size. Some males are larger than the females they mate with.

The variation extends beyond size to colour and pattern. The ones I have raised range from pale orange to deep red. The black spots on the elytra vary with each individual.
cf. Environmental Determinants of Seasonal Body Size Variation in the Milkweed Leaf Beetle, Labidomera clivicollis (Kirby) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)
and
Life-history Consequences of Body-size Variation in the Milkweed Leaf Beetle, Labidomera clivicollis (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)


CONCLUSION
I think that overwintering and caring for Labidomera clivicollis will help the species, as they are going to do better when protected during the winter. They can then be released into a milkweed patch in spring. These guys are sweet and beautiful and easy to care for. They are nice to each other and very rarely quibble. Larvae and adults only need good milkweed plants to survive. Watching both adults and youngsters munch little bites on the edges of leaves is a delight.


As long as there is a fresh, healthy stock of milkweed plants, preferably with blossoms, these guys will thrive indoors.
Labidomera clivicollis with Oncopeltus fasciatus nymphs (all handraised) on Asclepias curassavica seedpod:

flight
I am fairly confident that Labidomera only flies frequently when it is experiencing dietary stress, and is not strongly dispersal-limited by its refusal to fly.

Wonderful!
Informative, delightful and fun!
Thanks for doing this and then sharing it with all of us.

I seldom see these beetles and have never (knowingly) seen the eggs. There is quite a bit of Common milkweed around, even in the yard.
Thank you.

 
Thank you so much !!
Your words mean so much to me.
I added a video today of an adult laying eggs. It's under Life Cycle > Egg.
I will be adding more to this article later, as I've enjoyed another season of raising these guys and am overwintering some right now (some are diapausing and some are munching).
I hope you do get to see these beautiful beetles, because I fear they are becoming more and more scarce due to loss of habitat.
I love all the creatures who use milkweed. What do you get to see on your Common milkweed there?

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