Vein-cutting-behavior

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

• Tetraopes tetrophthalmus

  Red Milkweed Beetle

  Tetraopes tetrophthalmus, commonly known as the red milkweed beetle, is a longhorn beetle (Cerambycidae) specialized on milkweed host plants. Both its genus and species names derive from Ancient Greek for "four eyes," referring to the extreme adaptation where antennal bases bisect the compound eyes. Adults are aposematically colored in red and black, warning predators of their toxicity derived from sequestered cardiac glycosides. The species exhibits specialized behaviors including vein-cutting to disable latex defenses, vibrational communication for mating and territorial contests, and substrate-borne signaling distinct for different social contexts.

  milkweed-specialistaposematicMüllerian-mimicrycardiac-glycoside-sequestrationvein-cutting-behaviorvibrational-communicationsexual-dimorphismcoevolution