CLOSED: Bug ID needed, part 2

Watch Reply
More
Mark unread Print Skip to new
spartacusaby Hendersonville, NC(Zone 7a) Jul 27, 2008

A slightly larger creature, with some yellow coloring in addition to the reddish-orange: also living on asclepias.

Thumbnail by spartacusaby
Post #5325786
Quote
claypa West Pottsgrove, PA(Zone 6b) Jul 27, 2008

I think both posts are Large Milkweed Bugs, Oncopeltus fasciatus, but maybe the other Oncopeltus too:

http://bugguide.net/node/view/316/bgpage

Post #5325808
Quote
spartacusaby Hendersonville, NC(Zone 7a) Jul 27, 2008

Thanks, claypa; think I'm lucky enough to have both types (hooray). Do you know if they harm the plants? They don't appear to be eating the foliage, but don't know if they cause damage in other ways. If they are harmful, I'm at a bit of a loss to know how to proceed. There are literally hundreds of the creatures on the two plants, so manual removal isn't likely to be very successful. I have a pyrethrin spray I save for extreme circumstances, but don't want to harm the bees and butterflies. Last year I released ladybugs to control the aphids, but these creatures are pretty big; it would take a sizeable predator to take them on.

Post #5325844
Quote
claypa West Pottsgrove, PA(Zone 6b) Jul 27, 2008

I grow a few different milkweeds, so I see some of these and other bugs on them, but I never noticed a problem really, maybe the yellow aphids. These eat the seeds, but there are still plenty to go around. I haven't seen hundreds of them at a time, though. I don't know if they have predators; they absorb the toxins from the milkweed, so they probably taste bad.

Post #5325859
Quote
spartacusaby Hendersonville, NC(Zone 7a) Jul 27, 2008

Thanks again, claypa; guess I'll try to ignore them for the season, and hope the plants will still come back next year. They seem to be pretty sturdy plants, so hopefully they'll survive the invasion.

Post #5325878
Quote

Post a Reply to this Thread

Please or sign up to post.
Back to Forum Homepage

More Insect and Spider Identification Threads

Go to all Insect and Spider Identification threads
BACK TO TOP