The first time I noticed these critters I was a bit horrified. There were so many of them and while they were only on my butterfly weed (asclepius tuberosa), what if they migrated to the vegetable garden and started to chow down on it?
I’m learning to ask questions first and squish (or not) later, though, so I looked them up: Milkweed Bugs. And they only eat milkweed. Whew.
Now I let them munch and they have never trespassed into the “real” garden. They don’t seem to do much harm to the butterfly weed, either, concentrating on the seed pods. They leave the leaves for the monarch butterfly caterpillars, the blooms for the butterflies and the bees, and all is well.
Click here for more milkweed bug reading.
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks for sharing that . . I’m being bothered by bugs at the moment . . great photo . . yucky!
Our temperature plummeted to an overnight low of 18 degrees Fahrenheit two nights ago. I guess we won’t be seeing any more bugs for a while up here.
The sad news is that we were prematurely stripped of our autumn. The leaves on the trees in our yard were still green, but now they’re frozen, brown, and falling.
The forecast for tomorrow says snow…
Do you still have butterfly weed in bloom? Awesome! I have hundreds of these bugs, too and I kill them off when I see them on the leaves. I raise Monarch caterpillars and I’m not willing to share with the bugs. =)
Nice to know that there are buge we can live in harmony with!!
Oops, maybe a little more research is in order. The Monarch also lives on the milkweed, so protecting that plant is also important: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milkweed_butterfly
Gloria–Thanks!
Kat–That is sad. Weird weather all over. Don’t know what to expect anymore.
nancy–Well, this picture is a little dated. I think I saw the last blooms a couple of weeks ago. How lovely to raise Monarchs!
Tanya Walton–Yes, the butterfly weed seems unaffected. Growing like a weed in spite of the bugs.
Portia McCracken–From what I understand, milkweed bugs feed on the seed pods, distorting them a bit, but not destroying the seeds or the leaves in any quantity.
Ah! Thanks for identifying those! I was out photographing a couple weekends ago, and I got some amazing shots of them on some milkweed. I had never seen them before.
It’s nice to know that they are harmless, because seeing swarming bugs like that always gives me the willies. They could be ladybugs or caterpillars, and I’d still feel queasy!
TL, thanks for the nudge to get me into reading more about the milkweed bugs.
I love the way this site informs me, delights me, and encourages me to know more. FYI, milkweed bugs do eat/destroy the pod’s seeds, and for that reason are considered a beneficial insect in keeping this “weed” under control. However, in the garden they probably aren’t doing much, if any, harm, so best just to keep our eyes on whether the milkweed comes back next year, so the monarch caterpillar has a dinner plate. BTW, the toxic sap of the milkweed gives both the bug & the caterpillar their bad taste to predators, and the bright coloration warns predators not to touch; some insects even mimic this coloration to fool predators–fascinating!
Portia McCracken–So fascinating. What a system.
And I think you’re awesome.