Target Species

I have been on the lookout for Dogbane Leaf Beetles/Chrysochus auratus. They can potentially be found anywhere Hemp Dogbane/Apocynum cannabinum is found, for they eat the stuff. They’re known in NYC, including my subdivision thereof (Brooklyn). But it was only this past weekend that I finally came across several, including at least three mating pairs.

I also noticed a number of these things under the leaves of the dogbane. At first I wondered if they were Exema genus warty leaf beetles, which look like little clumps of poo. (Most of these dogbane plants were behind a fence and I couldn’t get up close and personal.) But no, they are little clumps of poo: these are, I learned, Dogbane Leaf Beetle eggs cleverly disguised with frass, i.e., beetle excrement.