red milkweed beetle

Description:

on milkweed

Habitat:

restored Indiana prairie

Notes:

The Milkweed Beetle, gets its scientific name, Tetraopes tetraophthalmus, from the configuration of its antennae and compound eyes. The antennae of many longhorn beetles arise on the head near the compound eye. Often the area around the antenna forms a notch in the compound eye. In Tetraopes tetraophthalmus, each compound eye is split into two distinct regions bisected by the antennae. Tetra-opes and tetra-ophthalmus both mean “four eyes”. http://livingwithinsects.wordpress.com/2...