If you have milkweed plants, not only are you likely to attract monarch butterflies, but also milkweed bugs! The milkweed plants in our backyard currently have several milkweed bugs (Oncopeltus fasciatus) congregated on them. They are a “true bug” found in the order Hemiptera.They feed on milkweed and other related plants. Using their long proboscis, they pierce the milkweed seeds and inject a salivary enzyme which digests their food, then they suck it up.
Milkweed bugs are native to this region and can be found most places east of the Rocky Mountains. They are reddish-orange in color (much like the monarch butterfly) and have black markings. You can easily distinguish males from females by looking at their ventral (under) side: males will have two black bar markings and females will have dots.
Milkweed bugs are one of a small group of insects that have the ability to tolerate the toxic compounds found in the milkweed plant. They are important in regulating populations of this plant. They have few predators due to absorbing the bad tasting compounds found in the sap of milkweed plants they eat. And just like the monarch, they use their bright colors to advertise their bad taste. Inexperienced birds that taste their first milkweed bug are unlikely to try to eat another orange and black insect.References:
Bugs of the World
Discover Entomology
