OMG!! Did you see the size of that bug? It looked just like a Red Milkweed Beetle!! The red milkweed beetle is very unique unlike other beetles they have long black horns, skinny black legs, a red body with black spots. The red milkweed beetles are usually found in small groups on milkweed plants, often on the underside of the leaves. Milkweed plants sometimes fill entire fields in good years.

The red milkweed beetle is 8-15mm, compared to other animals such a dragonfly or caterpillar that seems very small and it is but don’t be fooled by the size. The coloration in this beetle varies. As young adults they are reddish- orange but as they mature, they become a deeper red. The red milkweed beetles adaption is a little peculiar ,but amazing at the same time. The antenna base actually bisects the eye. Another adaptation is that there horns grew over the years so that they can use them to push the soil at the bottom of the milkweed plant around to lay their eggs. The red milkweed beetle has very interesting characteristics. They have a hard defensive mechanism shell type armor, which is red with round big black spots that develop as they get older, 4 thin black legs,  4 eyes and there most famous characteristic long black horns. Clearly, the red milkweed beetle is a magnificent looking bug.

This exclusive beetle can most likely be found in a small group on or under the milkweed plant. The population has increased by 25% in the last 2 years. The current population is 1.7 million. The reason that the population is increasing is because the milkweed plants are growing rapidly which causes more of the milkweed beetles to migrate to them and the more bugs in one place causes them to reproduces which in return makes the population rise. The red milkweed beetle is found all over the world where-ever you find a milkweed plant you will almost always find a red milkweed beetle on the plant or in the area. They are able to adapt fairly quickly to the weather around them. Since the red milkweed beetles produce so rapidly they have never been endangered and probably never will. As you can see, the red milkweed beetle has the ability to adapt to the weather in a matter of time and also reproduce like lighting.

The red milkweed beetle eats one of the most toxic plants in the world! They are one of the few insects that have the capability to eat the milkweed plant. Since few animals eat the poisonous plant there is always an abundance of it. They use their horns to damage the part of the leaf they are going eat, and then they use their micro sized teeth to eat that part of the leaf. The red milkweed beetle doesn’t have a lot of predators. They don’t have very many due to their bright colors and also because of what they eat. The milkweed plant has poison that is stored in the leafs veins, therefore when the beetle eats the plant it has the venom that it consumed inside of its body. If an animal was to go and eat the beetle, in less than 30 minutes the animal would die from a painful death. Consequently, if you ate a red milkweed beetle you should expect the outcome to be death.

As stated in the above paragraphs it is clear that the red milkweed beetle is extremely lavish. Without this beetle there would be one less species that is capable to eat the milkweed plant, and survive. The one characteristic that really stood out to me and I’m sure many more would agree is definitely the horns. The red milkweed beetle is not only super magnificent looking, but it does some pretty extravagant things as well!

Author : Makenna G
Published: 1/13

Sources:
"Red Milkweed Beetle." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Everyone, 29 Sept. 2000. Web. 15 Feb. 2012. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page "Links." Restoring The Landscape With Native Plants. Naturalists, 2 Jan. 2009. Web. 15 Feb. 2012. http://www.restoringthelandscape.com/p/resources.html

Photo Credit: Owens, Liz. "Red Milkweed Beetle." ESA EcoEd Digital Library (beta) - Home. 4 July 2003. Web. 15 Feb. 2012. http://ecoed.esa.org