Orange Milkweed with Swamp Milkweed Leaf Beetle , 2021
27.5 x 21.5 in (h x w)

Swamp Milkweed Leaf Beetles (Labidomera clivicollis) eat juices from leaves of the milkweed plant by cutting slits in the veins of leaves and drinking the juice that leaks out. Milkweed is poisonous, but some insect milkweed grazers have developed an adaptation that keeps them safe from the toxins. I love their shiny Halloween-colored carapaces, which have a dimpled pattern in them. Their colors are aposematic, which means that they serve to warn or repel predators that they are dangerous food.

More from Studio Art Quilt Associates, Inc. (SAQA)

The Double Faced Ones , 2023
23 x 23 in (h x w)
Studio Art Quilt Associates, Inc. (SAQA)
Zebra , 2016
51 x 51 in (h x w)
Studio Art Quilt Associates, Inc. (SAQA)
Abstract Geometric Study 1 , 2023
35.5 x 23.5 in (h x w)
Studio Art Quilt Associates, Inc. (SAQA)
Re-Imagined II , 2020
39 x 40 in (h x w)
Studio Art Quilt Associates, Inc. (SAQA)
We Are Stardust , 2023
50 x 41 in (h x w)
Studio Art Quilt Associates, Inc. (SAQA)