Subject: Bugs on Butterlfy weed plant
Geographic location of the bug: Annapolis, MD USA
Date: 06/19/2019
Time: 11:31 AM EDT
Your letter to the bugman: I have seen orange and blank milkweed bugs before, but these are bright pink and blue.
How you want your letter signed: zelda
Dear Zelda,
These are immature True Bugs, and we checked BugGuide to verify that they are not Large Milkweed Bug nymphs, nor do they match BugGuide images of Small Milkweed Bug nymphs. They appear to be Eastern Boxelder Bug nymphs based on this BugGuide image, which begs the question: Why are they on Milkweed? We don’t know. Is there a maple or boxelder tree nearby?
Thank you so much for replying. Yes, there is a maple tree not too far away, but not directly near this patch. So interesting – I will keep watching. Love the web site; I just found it!
We would love to see images of the winged adults.
Ok, I’ll be on the lookout – about how long does maturation take?
We suspect you should have adults within a month.