Gallery - Birds and Bees and other Creatures

Bug #9 - Milkweed Bug

Bug #9 - Milkweed Bug

2022

12x12" framed textile

Common throughout North America, this beauty, aka Oncopeltus fasciatus, spends all its life on most species of milkweed. Adults and their jewel-like nymphs can be seen in dense communities feeding along stems and pods. The toxic sap of the plant conveys some immunity to predators. You will ask, are they a danger to our beloved monarch caterpillars? And the answer is a resounding NO. They share the plant as good citizens, hardly acknowledging each other like ships in the night.

Each year I look forward to watching the latest crop of bugs grow from tiny scarlet beads to flashy red and black adults.