Lunchtime Photo

Kevin DrumMay 12, 2021 – 12:30 pmMay 11, 2021 – 9:42 pm3 Comments

This is a milkweed leaf beetle, photographed as it was scuttling across a path toward safety in the nearby greenery. It was searching, I assume, for a milkweed leaf to chew on. The blue sheen is very attractive, don't you think?

April 10, 2021 — Laguna Coast Wilderness Park, Orange County, California

3 thoughts on “Lunchtime Photo”

Salamander May 12, 2021 – 1:02 pm at

What?? Creatures other than monarch larvae eat milkweed? I'll keep an eye out for those beetles. We've got several milkweed plants, and the beetles are more likely to show up than the monarchs.
Salamander May 12, 2021 – 8:50 pm at

Now I'm wondering how you and your camera were positioned to get this amazing bugs-eye view. Also, are there no other readers who like beetles?
lubberboy May 13, 2021 – 9:01 am at

Nice photo. Technically its a Blue Milkweed Beetle (Chrysochus cobaltinus).

https://bugguide.net/node/view/41018

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I started blogging in 2002 at my own site. In 2004 I got hired by the Washington Monthly and then moved to Mother Jones in 2008, where I blogged and wrote for the print magazine for 12 years. Finally, in 2021, I came full circle, leaving MoJo to once again blog at my own site.

Prior to blogging, I was vice president of marketing for Kofax Image Products, a software company in Irvine, California. I’m married, no kids, two cats. In 2014 I was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a cancer of the bone marrow. It’s currently incurable, but modern treatments are pretty good and I remain alive and hopeful that a cure is on the way.