Stats

Lifespan

Up to 1 yr

Size

Medium

Diet

Herbivore

Activity

Diurnal

Social

Solitary

Biome

Freshwater wetland

Range

North America

Movement

Walking

Breeding

Egg-laying

Defense

Toxins

Status

Common

About

A shiny orange-red leaf beetle with black spots, found clinging to milkweed and dogbane in wetlands across eastern North America. Like the monarch caterpillars it shares its host plant with, it sequesters toxic cardiac glycosides from milkweed sap to deter predators.

Life cycle

1. 1.
   egg

   A small egg is laid on or near the larval food source and hatches within days or weeks.
2. 2.
   juvenile

   An immature insect feeds and molts, growing through successive instars.
3. 3.
   subadult

   A near-adult insect has wing buds or near-mature form, one molt away from full size.
4. 4.
   adult

   Fully grown, with full wings and adult coloration.

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Taxonomy

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Arthropoda

Class

Insecta

Order

Coleoptera

Family

Chrysomelidae

Genus

Labidomera

Species

Labidomera clivicollis