[1] This beetle has also been found to participate in interbreeding with Chrysochus cobaltinus in certain geographic regions, resulting in hybrid offspring.

Due to its diet of exclusively dogbane, C. auratus has been considered as a potential mechanism of biological control for agricultural purposes.

Recently, at least two narrow regions in western North America have been documented where both C. auratus and C. cobaltinus occur and apparently interbreed.

[2] Beetles of the Chrysochus genus typically feed on dogbane plants (Apocynaceae) and milkweeds (Asclepiadaceae).

Cardenolides have the ability to bind to and block the function of Na+/K+ - ATPase, which is a transmembrane carrier present in almost all animals and tissues.

The beetle is not only adapted to processing toxic cardenolide, but can also able to accumulate this compound in its own body to deter future predators.

Distal to this initial cut location is the presence of low-latex tissue, which the beetle exclusively feeds on, biting on it in a downward motion.

As the beetles feed, latex accumulates on the ventral segments of their mouth due to the repetitive downward motion made by their head.

Evidence of this behavior can be seen on leaves that have been fed on by C. auratus, demonstrated by the rings of dried latex that can be found near the site of feeding.

[6] No parental care has been reported, except the fecal sac that the mother surrounds her eggs with when attaching them to the underside of the dogbane leaf.

Since Apocynum contains cardenolides that are very toxic to most animals, the ability of larvae to eat the plant prevents it from being preyed on by parasitic wasps.

This usually takes place in the early summer, and the adult beetle will stay in the host plant patch for the next six to eight weeks.

One such hybrid zone is located in the low-lying area of the Yakima River valley in Washington state where there is a 75 km wide region where C. auratus and C. cobaltinus interact.

During the late Pleitocene, central Washington and the Yakima River Valley faced flooding from Glacial Lake Missoula.

The current geographical distribution of the C. auratus suggests that after the Pleistocene glaciers receded, the population began to expand into south central Washington, resulting in this hybrid zone.

Because the hybrids have lowered fitness and are usually sterile, C. auratus and C. cobaltinus ideally want to mate with beetles within their own respective species.

[1] Dogbane beetles use sex pheromones known as cuticular hydrocarbon signals to find which females are the fittest and which are not going to increase their direct fitness through procreation.

Adult dogbane beetles are typically an iridescent blue-green color, an appearance that plays to their advantage as it wards off predators.

The elytra also form the hard case of the beetle, covering its entire dorsal surface and giving it its coppery tinge.

Therefore, many integrated management programs for dogbane proliferation are working on strategies to conserve and augment the C. auratus population for agricultural use.

[12] C. auratus has also been considered as a potential mechanism of biological control for a non-native European vine called Vincetoxicum rossicum, which also falls in the Apocynaceae family.