Wednesday, 9 June 2021

Blue Milkweed Beetles in Westridge-Canyonback Wilderness Park

Subject:  Blue Milkweed Beetles
Geographic location of the bug: Westridge-Canyonback Wilderness Park, California
Date: 06/04/2021
Time: 9:25 AM PDT
Your letter to the bugman:  Dear Readers,
Daniel was out hiking near the Getty Museam in a Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy park when he pointed out the Narrow-Leaf Milkweed that was just beginning to bloom to his hiking partners Naeemah and Sharon.  Some plants had numerous Blue Milkweed Beetles feeding on the leaves.  According to BugGuide:  “Larvae are obligate root feeders, and adults eat the leaves of larval host plants. Females are highly polyandrous, males engage in extended periods of post-copulatory mate guarding.”

Blue Milkweed Beetle

Milkweed is a very popular plant with many pollinating insects including butterflies, bees and wasps. so many years ago we created a Milkweed Meadow tag for the complex ecosystem that is associated with milkweed.

Blue Milkweed Beetle and Honey Bee

 

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