Southern Masked Chafer - Cyclocephala Lurida - On A Common Milkweed Blossom Stock Image

Cyclocephala lurida, the southern masked chafer, is a species of beetle in the family Scarabaeidae which is native to the southeastern United States. It is a brown beetle with a black head, with an adult length of 10 to 14 mm. The adult beetles cause no harm, but the eggs are laid underground and the developing larvae feed on grass roots and can kill turf under dry conditions. Raccoons and skunks feed on the grubs, pulling up the turf as they do so. Asclepias syriaca, commonly called common milkweed, butterfly flower, silkweed, silky swallow-wort, and Virginia silkweed, is a species of flowering plant. It is in the genus Asclepias, the milkweeds. Common milkweed is a clonal perennial herb growing up to 8.5 ft tall. Its ramets grow from rhizomes. Many insect species feed on common milkweed, and it is the host plant of the Monarch butterfly.