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Description
Large Milkweed Bug (Oncopeltus fasciatus)

Large Milkweed Bugs are colored orange (or orange-red) and black. They have a long proboscis which they use to pierce the milkweed seed and inject salivary enzymes used to digest their food. Legs are delicate. Adult milkweed bugs have full grown wings which cover the abdomen. Small elongate eggs are bright red and hatch in spring. Adults overwinter, appearing sometimes in great numbers on warm winter days. There can be more than one generation per year.

This North American native ranges from Massachusetts to Florida in the East, westward to Texas, the Rocky Mountains, and California, and southward to Texas and Brazil.

Milkweed bugs can be found on seed pods piercing the wall of the pod to feed on seeds. 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. Milkweed bugs have few predators because they concentrate in their bodies bad tasting compounds found in the sap of milkweed plants. The bugs 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, such as a Monarch or Viceroy butterfly.

More info: [link] , [link] , [link] , [link]

Description
Large Milkweed Bug (Oncopeltus fasciatus)

Large Milkweed Bugs are colored orange (or orange-red) and black. They have a long proboscis which they use to pierce the milkweed seed and inject salivary enzymes used to digest their food. Legs are delicate. Adult milkweed bugs have full grown wings which cover the abdomen. Small elongate eggs are bright red and hatch in spring. Adults overwinter, appearing sometimes in great numbers on warm winter days. There can be more than one generation per year.

This North American native ranges from Massachusetts to Florida in the East, westward to Texas, the Rocky Mountains, and California, and southward to Texas and Brazil.

Milkweed bugs can be found on seed pods piercing the wall of the pod to feed on seeds. 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. Milkweed bugs have few predators because they concentrate in their bodies bad tasting compounds found in the sap of milkweed plants. The bugs 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, such as a Monarch or Viceroy butterfly.

More info: [link] , [link] , [link] , [link]