Sand-milkweed

Guides

• Tetraopes pilosus

  Pilose Milkweed Beetle

  Tetraopes pilosus is a longhorned beetle in the family Cerambycidae, described by Chemsak in 1963. It is a milkweed specialist restricted to Quaternary sandhills of the central and southern Great Plains. Adults are characterized by dense white pubescence and bright red-and-black aposematic coloration. The species is closely associated with sand milkweed (Asclepias arenaria), feeding on both foliage as adults and roots as larvae.

  milkweed-beetlesand-milkweedcardenolide-sequestrationaposematic-colorationsandhillsGreat-Plainsroot-borervein-cutting-behaviorChemsak-1963specialist-herbivorexeric-adaptationpubescenceTetraopiniLamiinaeCerambycidaeColeoptera