Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
A Six-lined Goldenrod Leaf Beetle (Ophraella sexvittata) perches motionless on a leaf of a Tall Goldenrod plant (Solidago altissima), at the Houston Arboretum & Nature Center, in Houston, TX, USA. It looks like the Leaf Beetle is either asleep or just trying to digest an earlier meal (perhaps evidenced by the hole in the leaf?).
Some sort of small black Ant (family Formicidae) -- probably a Dark Rover Ant (Brachymyrmex patagonicus) -- comes along and rouses the Leaf Beetle from its rest. The Ant seems to see the suddenly moving Beetle as a threat and quickly leaves the scene.
A Six-lined Goldenrod Leaf Beetle (Ophraella sexvittata) perches motionless on a leaf of a Tall Goldenrod plant (Solidago altissima), at the Houston Arboretum & Nature Center, in Houston, TX, USA. It looks like the Leaf Beetle is either asleep or just trying to digest an earlier meal (perhaps evidenced by the hole in the leaf?).
Some sort of small black Ant (family Formicidae) -- probably a Dark Rover Ant (Brachymyrmex patagonicus) -- comes along and rouses the Leaf Beetle from its rest. The Ant seems to see the suddenly moving Beetle as a threat and quickly leaves the scene.
