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True Bugs

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bug love

looking to identify cool insects
love your site! i live about 40 mi. due west of the Superstition Mountains in Gilbert AZ (SE of Phoenix by about 25 miles) I found these on an oleander. they stayed rear-to-rear for quite awhile, when one crawled, the other moved backwards; their coloring is wrong for the pic i found of Lovebugs, Plecia nearctica (but the Florida site said they are invaders from the West), but can you tell if they’re related, or what they are? thanks!
Elizabeth Boepple
p.s. Florida says they get swarms, but in 1o years here, i’ve only seen these two, in April 2007

Hi Elizabeth,
Florida Lovebugs are actually flies. Your mating Small Milkweed Bugs are True Bugs. Western specimens of the Small Milkweed Bug, Lygaeus kalmii, show white spots on the membranous wings as pictured in your photograph.

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