milkweed bugs?

I have a recenlty purchased milkweed that just hatched a whole bounty of these puppies! I only have 4 milkweed plants and they are all fairly new and I'd like to nip this thing in the bud before it spreads my other plants. Would greatly appreciate any recommendations please!

Lynn

Oh, az, sorry to hear it! Last year I was constantly dunking those things in sudsy water. But...this year I have another plan. I'm going to let them stay on the plants and hope the predator bugs get them before the cats. Maybe that's their purpose in life. Of course, I'll have to maintain some control and not have a billion of them.
That's my recommendation.....let them be decoys! lol

LOL If my plants weren't all so small for now, I wouldn't worry. I do have praying mantises hatched and verdins that come and eat bugs, I'm just afraid that this first full year for me and my milkweeds that they might get out of control quickly and be devastating. For now they are babies, I will try to get rid (Iremove) of these and hopefully not have many get to adulthood.

Ooohh, be careful of those praying mantises! I have found those on my milkweed just waiting for easy prey such as a butterfly and they will eat the cats too. They get relocated...across the street, when I see them.

What's a verdin?

Really?! I will keep an eye on them, I had no idea I would have to worry about them and the catties, I can transplant them out front where I will have no less 5k GF catties at any given time :)

A verdin is a tiny bird that eats bugs :) They're new to my yard, but I already like them very much! They skitter here and there, they're probably gonna be eating catties, too huh? I think we ahve to put up with a certain amount of that in order to reap the benefits of these creatures, too.

Good idea.

Supposedly the monarch cats and adults taste bad to birds, but I don't think the predator bugs mind the taste.
I know it's nature's way....everyone has to eat something, and the importance of balance. It's just in my yard......the cats aren't going to be on the menu, of course, I'm sure I miss some. The adult butterflies....I can't protect them, but sure wish I could.

That verdin sounds cute, I'll have to look him up to see what he looks like.

Good, no worries about birds eating catties, that's one less thing to deal with!

Azreno,

Was there a photo of these parasites originally mentioned posted that I am not getting on the website? I really would like to compare them to the parasites that are on my Mustard Greens now. Unfortunately I can't get close enough on my camera.

Thanks,

Chuck

Oh, I don't have a pic, I'm sorry (mine are way too tiny, too!), they are tiny red bugs at the base of a milkweed, so I looked up the milkweed bug ( a no-brainer :) and that's what I've got. I don't know much about them at all I'm afraid. But you can google milkweed bug and get some great images that should help you tell.

Oh yes!!! It definitely sounds like you have milkweed bugs Azreno!!!! I have them ALL over my milkweed and they really do some damage to my plants. Worse than the aphids in my humble opinion!

Here is a good link with photos of the different stages of the MW bug:
http://www.ivyhall.district96.k12.il.us/4TH/KKHP/1INSECTS/milkweed.html

This site states:

Impact on the Ecosystem

Positive
Milkweed bugs are one of a small group of insects that have the ability to tolerate the toxic (poisonous) compounds in the milkweed plant. They are therefore important in regulating populations of this plant.

Negative
None, unless you are trying to raise milkweed plants!

So I guess that they do serve a purpose because milkweed can get out of hand with the numerous seeds each plant produces. And those seeds can float all over the place and spread very easily. Of course if you are trying to attract Monarchs, then the MW is a blessing and the bugs are NOT! LOL!

This message was edited Apr 25, 2007 7:32 PM

Lynn!
I share in your dislike for those darn Milkweed bugs! Here's what I do.
In the evening before sunset I mix up a batch of bug spray....

1 Gallon water
1 Tbsp oil (anything will do)
3 tbsp dish soap (plain...nothing fancy with extra grease fighters)

Then I spray it all over my plants...completely coating them. By the time i've done my whole garden (20-30 min) I turn around and rinse them down with water. It's really worked for me. You can't do it during the day because the soap will kill the plants somehow.

Good Luck!
PS OOOH! I really hate those suckers!

~Adrienne

Adrienne, I would be afraid the soap would kill the Monarch cats and eggs too.
I just make a bucket of sudsy water and then flick them in there, that way I only get them.

Adrienne, I really like your technique and I think I may use it on other plants, I've used soap before with bad outcomes but with the rinsing afterwards and doing it at night, sounds effective, thanks!

Fly, I like that passive technique very much, mainly because I'm there checking stuff out so much all the time anyways, it would be so easy to to handle the milkweed bugs that way, thanks!

I just checked the link and I do not have milkweed bugs, thanks. Instead I have Golden Aphids. I have never seen them before I purchased an Asclepias. They were all over the milkweed flowers last year. I am going to try the soap at night technique if they come back this year. I found out that the garlic plants that protect the asclepias from all aphids are also deterrents to butterflies and cats, so none of these.

Thanks,

Chuck

Oh, yeah, I've got those aphids, too. Did notice that all of mine had them, too, thought that was funny but I guess they just like the milkweeds, huh?

Oh yeah, they love those mw plants. My technique is squish them.......with a glove on! lol

There's so many bugs attracted to those mw's, plus those nasty assassin bugs that will hide when they see you, so look carefully for those, especially if you want Monarchs to thrive. Last year I would relocate the nymphs because they can't fly, but the adults....they had to go. Be careful because they bite!

Sigh....I just hope to lure some monarchs....

You will Az, are you going to put the cats in a cage?

I haven't gotten to that point, but I'm sure I will. Won't that freak DH out LOL I know a place around the corner that carries those round pop-up hampers with a lid, just haven't gotten one, I should do that. I need more plants! I'm working on getting natives for my area, they are hard to come by though. My plan is to have seed from these so I can start my own supply. I have a. tuberosa seed to sow (I should do that!) , I figure the natvies can pull them in and the tuberosa can back 'em up, sounds logical, right?

Sounds like a good plan!

I buy plants and leave them in the pots so I can swap them in and out of the cage. It's easier than cutting off leaves, because those guys can eat!

Yeah, it's not easy to grow things in pots here in summer though :( Monarchs are very rare here as well, so I may not see one for years, of course I could have a small mw forest by then so that wouldn't be so bad lol

I know...the heat makes them dry out quick here too. I found this article and the western population does extend into Arizona, so hopefully you'll see some. Do you not see them even when you have milkweed?


http://www.hww.ca/hww2.asp?id=34

Pots really just get too hot here and the nightime temps don't cool anything off either, so most things really do just bake in pots here in summer unfortunately :( You can water things, but you can't keep the roots cool.

I just started in on all this recently, so that would be no :) I checked the migration map and there were 2 sitings the first week of april in central/southern az, those were uncommon though. We're not in their migratory path, nor do they generally overwinter here, so I hope to get some lost little souls and keep them for my own :)

I realize this is an old thread, but the information might still be useful ☺

Milkweed bugs take in the same poisons/toxins that a Monarch cat does, making it so that there really is no predator for the Milkweed bug. A bird might eat one, discover the awful taste and they don't come back for more. The Milkweed bug sucks out the sap of the milkweed plant, Monarch cats eat the plant, ingesting the sap that way. An interesting tidbit, some insects that don't actually taste bad use similar color patterns (orange and black) to fool the birds into not eating them.

Mine haven't been destructive oddly enough. I think mine is the "small milkweed bug" so either it's not as bad as the big one or something is eating them. Either way, monarchs aren't eating my milkweeds either, that leaves them wide open for those darn yellow aphids :(

Oh! Sorry to hear that the Monarchs haven't found you yet.

The "small milkweed bug" is just the bug in it's nymph stage. It goes thru 5 nymphal instars (stages) before it becomes an adult. I've always found a sharp blast of water displaces the aphids. It's an on going thing, but it does work.

No, they're entirely different bugs. Cousins at best.

I'm not exactly in a monarch flight path, I may never see one :(

I know all about aphids, unfortunately, they'e so unsightly and washing them off never seems a priority (on the milkweeds anyways lol, I have other plants that would get higher treatment).

Ah well, another reason why I did our yard in almost all natives. They can withstand the various bugs and whatever else might come their way. Except for DED and EAB of course. No immunity to that I'm sorry to say.

What are DED and EAB ?

All natives here doesn't give you much to enjoy sadly :( I look for and have gotten quite a few native and or appropriate plants, problem is a lot of these are difficult to find being as they have not been common in cultivation, pine leaf milkweed being one :)

Oh, I'm sorry. Dutch Elm disease which wipes out the Elms and Emerald Ash Borer, which is going after Ash trees.

In a city the size of Mesa, they don't have any native plant nurseries or sales? My gosh, I'd think there'd be tons to chose from. I don't know where Flagstaff is from you, but here's a nursery that does retail and wholesale and says they're native.

http://www.nativeplantandseed.com/plants5.asp

Next weekend in Phoenix at the Desert Botanical Garden

http://www.dbg.org/index.php/about/news/fallplantsale

The plant list does have Asclepias linaria (Pine leaf milkweed) and a whole more. It is a little annoying though. Their list has plants that I know aren't native. Not to the US anyway. Buddleia being one of them. There will be garden volunteers and horticulturists though. Do some research on what is native to your part of the state and look into the list on what they're carrying.

Aside from that, move?? ☺☺ just kidding...lol....

Oh, those sound nasty!

There are places that carry stuff, but a lot of the good stuff you have to just really keep your eye out for, they aren't always available. I've been lucky to find some of my plants and now others can't find them. Yes, we have some good biennial sales! I'm skipping the DBG sale though to go to the Boyce Thompson Arboretum sale and we trip down to an awesome place Tucson twice a year.

Unfortunately, yea, they're pretty nasty. This towns streets used to be lined in Elms. Then the DED came and wiped them all out. My parents have timber, and they get Elms growing out there, but after about 7 yrs, they die. We have an Ash on the side of this house, but we didn't plant it. So I have no idea if it's a named cultivar or a straight species. Which means when the EAB gets here, I have no idea if it will be affected or not. It gets really expensive to try and inoculate all the trees.


Have fun at the Boyce Thompson Arboretum sale. Hopefully they'll have your Asclepias linaria!

That's just terrible! I have an ash tree, it's a grafted one, I sure hope it doesn't have problems! It would be expensive to try and keep your trees pest free, but 7 years for a trees, what would be the point!

Thanks! I do already have the linaria, am waiting not so patiently for pods, they apparently don't set seed til fall! Well, it's fall, still no pods :( It's a wonderful plant though. I laso have arizona milkweed, another great one, not big on setting pods thoguh! And they were small, opened before I even saw them. At least I know they aren't terribly invasive like the bloodflower, huh?

A grafted Ash tree....hmmm.....I'm not sure about that. I would think that the Ash part is probably a cultivar, but which one is beyond me. It's also hard to say (for me anyway) if it's grafted onto species Ash, or a totally other rootstock. My parents Elms are in the timber, so it's fine that they don't live long. Great woodpecker habitat! A lot of birds like snags, so they get left. There was an Elm in the far part of where they cleared for a house and my dad had it inoculated something like 3x's a year for 3 yrs, but it didn't help, so it died. And yes, it was a lot of expense.

Technically it's fall, but does AZ really have a fall? lol....I'm used to cooler weather, sometimes brisk, falling leaves....etc.etc. You wouldn't know it though based on the last 3 days. We've broke heat records each day. My Asclepias tuberosa has just recently gotten pods, so being you're in AZ, it might be awhile. I know it's a different milkweed, but it just must be one that is late in pod setting. I didn't collect the seed on any of mine that have already opened up, I just let the seeds fall where they may.

What's bloodflower?

The ash is called "fan-tex", supposed to be good for the area.

Yes we have a fall, lol. Patio was in the 50's the other morning ;P The problem with fall seed setting plants is that we cool very quickly here- we're just now staying below 100 but our average first frost date is late november, so if it doesn't start soon, they may not have time to develop :(

I grew up in Indiana and this is time for the fall leaves to change, was my favorite time of year.

Bloodflower is a. currasivaca (sp!) so invasive!

Ah, o.k. did a search and I found Asclepias curassavica. I'm not familiar with it, but many Asclepias spread far and wide. The A. curassavica is from South America though, so it spreading all over and into natural areas would probably put it in as an invasive. Funny thing, my husband grew up on a farm and they battled various milkweeds in the fields. Now, as we're driving and I'm looking for milkweeds on the side of the road, my husband is the first to ID it!

I didn't know Mesa had frost, I thought it was always just hot, hotter and hotter yet ☺ I have a BIL and family that live in Mesa, but we've never been there (long story). It's been 90 here the last 3 days. Supposed to be in the high 80's again today, with a cold front moving in sometime tonight. So by Wed, the temp is supposed to be 60. Which of course is below the average high for this date in time. I just wish it would rain. The temps the last few days don't qualify for Indian Summer, because that's warm weather after a frost or a freeze and we haven't had either. Trees here are losing their leaves, but it's because they're dying. Lack of rain for a couple years is just too much stress on them. And heaven forbid the homeowner water them! Fall is my favorite time of the year too.

Let's hope your Asclepias start forming pods soon!

I also did a search typing in Arizona Ash cultivar "fan-tex", and I found this.

The bloodflower is also native to mexico- we borrow A LOT of their stuff lol You gotta figure, anything growing in mexico must be easy to grow here :)

So funny about your DH! The worle I think is realizing the need for the milkweed, it's a shame Mexico has done such a job of killing all theirs.

I'm hearing about the marathon on the news this morning, you guys are really having a hard time of it. And I've heard about your drought as well, it's a shame trees are suffering because of it. Here we know we have to water :(

Oh, I sure hope my ash tree lives long! It is supposed to be good in adverse conditions which is what we have here.

Terryr

>>Asclepias curassavica

I grew it up here (DuPage County) this past year... Scarlet Milkweed.

it did great. i was actually surprised how well it did.

now i have seeds out the kazoo.

really attracts the monarchs and is a host plant, but i do not believe I had any eggs this year.

also - regarding that Ash borer.... i read they found one in DuPage, in Glendale Heights i believe. That is about 7 miles from me.... so they are really spreading.

Terese

Yea, could you believe that a person died running a marathon? They were talking about it on the radio this morning and some guy was mad at the runners for taking too much water. They throw it on their head and they wasted it he said. I was in shock when he said that. I'm not a runner, but I work outside doing various gardening and home projects and when I get hot, I always go to the hose and spray my head.

Why is Mexico getting rid of milkweed?

Terese, it would be an annual here, so it probably wouldn't be a problem here with the spreading. I have 4 with a 5th Asclepias on the way, all indigenous to IL. Do you have any of them? And yes, the EAB is on the march. :So far so good. It was spotted in the next county, which is LaSalle County. So that's not good.

Oh, I agree, it sure helps to keep you cool if you can get your head wet.

Mexico has destroyed a lot of their milkweed areas, I don't know why, but they were spots where loads of monarchs would overwinter and lay eggs. Then they turned around and blamed the US and our engineered crops on the monarch decline. I know I'm putting this very simply but that's what I recall of it.