Gold Bug Vs. Parks Department

Dogbane Leaf Beetle/Chrysochus auratus is one of the most spectacular beetles found in our parts. Their specific epithet means golden, but as you can see they’re something of an iridescent rainbow. Their common name comes from their association with Hemp Dogbane/Apocynum cannabinum.

I found my first beetles of this species last year in a patch of Hemp Dogbane growing in a fenced-off area of Bush Terminal Park. The plants were right next to the fence, so I had pretty good views of their eggs masses, which they cover in frass/poop (hey, it’s a strategy).

Went I went by on Tuesday, there were hardly any plants at all, and the ones there were recently sprouted. They were behind by several weeks, so they hadn’t bloomed yet as they were elsewhere in Brooklyn. It looked like the area had been indiscriminately mowed.Typical of the underfunded, understaffed, irrationally-led Parks Department to clearcut great habitat even as they spend money on restoration and new plantings elsewhere.

There was a mature patch of plants nearby, though, and that’s where I discovered these two adults.

In another area of this park, they chopped all the Common Milkweed last year. Like its relative Hemp Dogbane, Common Milkweed is hard to kill, so it’s come back, but now the same plot is choked with Mugwort.