Last summer I confessed to being obsessed with Red Milkweed Beetles (Tetraopes tetrophthalmus) in one of my postings and initial signs this summer suggest that the fascination remains strong.
This past weekend, I spotted several of my little red friends when visiting Green Spring Gardens, a local county-run historical garden, and I stalked them like a paparazzo, trying to get a good shot. I particularly like this image, in which the beetle is staring down at me from a partially eaten leaf. (I don’t know if it was the one that chewed up the leaf.)
The colors of the photo may suggest Christmas, but I am not sure that there would be much of a market for this as a Christmas card image.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Great shot!
So that’s what those are. I walked into a cloud of them that had apparently just hatched the other day. Great shot!
Beautiful work Mike–spectacular detail!
Thanks, Gary. These beetles have enough interesting details that I never get tired of trying to shoot them (and because they are almost always on milkweed, I know where to find them in my local garden).
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[…] If you want a better view of a Red Milkweed Beetle, check out the June 2013 posting entitled “Red Milkweed Beetle—he’s back.” […]