Sunday, July 16, 2017

Beetlemania strikes again

 I've undoubtedly used this title or a similar one at least once each year for the past five - ever since I first discovered the Red Milkweed Beetle - Tetraopes basalis.  So far the summer of 2017 has been very dry and hot, and I've only seen one of these beetles at a time in just a few places.  But a few days ago I stopped by one of my favorite spots on Chandler Road, just in case.  As I said in an earlier post, most of the Milkweeds here had already succumbed to the Road Department's weed eater attacks.  But on this day, there were three on one plant, and one each on three other plants.  I took lots of photos.  My favorite is the last one in this series.  For some reason the inclusion of part of the fence appealed to me even though that's what I usually avoid.  I also like number 5 in the series because of the way the beetle folded her antennae back in response to my close approach. It reminded me of cat behavior.







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