Milkweed Bugs

Here is a photo of mature milkweed bugs together with nymphs. The nymphs are the smaller orange bugs that have no black markings. They are an example of incomplete metamorphosis.

"About 12% of all insects go through incomplete metamorphosis. Incomplete metamorphosis has 3 stages.

* Egg - A female insect lays eggs. These eggs are often covered by an egg case which protects the eggs and holds them together.

* Nymph - The eggs hatch into nymphs. Nymphs looks like small adults, but usually don't have wings. Insect nymphs eat the same food that the adult insect eats. Nymphs shed or molt their exoskeletons (outer casings made up of a hard substance called chitin) and replace them with larger ones several times as they grow. Most nymphs molt 4-8 times.

* Adult - The insects stop molting when they reach their adult size. By this time, they have also grown wings." Utah Education Network Insects - Metamorphosis

Milkweed bugs can often be found on seed pods. They feed on the seeds by piercing the wall of the pod with their long proboscis. They inject an enzyme into the seed and suck up the dissolved seed.

Since they destroy the seeds, they are not welcome guests in my butterfly garden.

The bottom picture shows two milkweed bugs on a milkweed blossom. Click on the photo to make some close up observations.

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