I saw these bugs all over the seed pods of our milkweed plants yesterday. They're still there today. Any idea what these are and whether they're bad for the plant?
These insects form clusters on milkweed plants, where they eat the seeds. Milkweed bugs have few predators because they concentrate in their bodies bad tasting compounds found in the sap of milkweed plants.
Entomologists like to study and work with milkweed bugs because they are easy to raise in a
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lab, where they can be fed pumpkin seeds.
In general, the insects are harmless unless you are trying to raise milkweed. They never eat 100% of the seeds so some milkweed plants always manage to survive, germinate and continue their existence.
Walter, I plant milkweed because the Monarch butterfly cannot reproduce without it. Then those ugly bugs eat the milkweed that the monarch needs for reproduction. The milkweed is pretty nice looking until those nasty milkweed bugs take over but the plant always survives here.
I don't plant milkweed exactly, but I let a lot of it grow up on its own for the butterflies. I'm not much of a weeder anyway so the monarchs give me a reason to leave the milkweeds.
I don't know about milkweed bugs, but most bugs (as much as 95%) are either beneficial or benign. The Golden Rule is: never kill a bug unless you know what it is AND it is causing serious damage. Everybody's got to eat something, so pick your battles wisely.
I too have a problem with these eating holes from the undersides of the leaves of my butterfly bush. Is there anything I can do to keep them away this spring?
They look like a Box Elder Bug. I have an infestation of them in the summer. I have a Box Elder Elm in my front yard. Seemingly, they don't eat a lot of the plants, they don't bother anything. They don't bite. They're not like having cockroaches. My cat loves them when they come in the house.
Those ARE assassin bugs and they're beneficial if you have aphids and other bugs that they eat.... here is a link to a page with a picture of them and a list of what it eats and what attracts it. When I still had milkweed (aka butterfly weed) they're would be masses of these on it thankfully they do good and look good!! :) http://tgcgarden.wordpress.com/2010/07/06/id......»
don't let the ontario location mess with you I live in Kentucky and have the same ones!!
These insects form clusters on milkweed plants, where they eat the seeds. Milkweed bugs have few predators because they concentrate in their bodies bad tasting compounds found in the sap of milkweed plants.
Entomologists like to study and work with milkweed bugs because they are easy to raise in a ...»
In general, the insects are harmless unless you are trying to raise milkweed. They never eat 100% of the seeds so some milkweed plants always manage to survive, germinate and continue their existence.
don't let the ontario location mess with you I live in Kentucky and have the same ones!!