Small Milkweed Bug - ? sp.
Family Lygaeidae
This page contains pictures and information about Small Milkweed Bugs that we found in the Brisbane area, Queensland, Australia.
- Length 12mm
- The Small Milkweed Bug adults are orange-red in colour, with black wings. Their antennae and legs are black in colour. They have relatively large eyes and narrow body. The nymphs are black in colour with blood red abdomen. The adults and nymphs found shelter in large numbers on and around the Milkweed seed pockets.
- This bug look like the Leptocoris bug (family Rhopalidae) Leptocoris mitellata but there is no record Leptocoris bug feed on Milkweed.
- We found two red bugs on the Milkweed plant. The Large Milkweed bugs, with black patterns on orange colour, larger in size. And this Small Milkweed Bugs, with simpler patterns on wings and thorax, little bit smaller in size. They are not female and male because we saw two bugs with same colour pattern mating. However, they just stay together peacefully sucking the milk from the Milkweed plants.
The first picture show a mating pair. The female and male look no different. The second picture show the last instars. It is about the same size as the adult, with black head, black thorax and blood red abdomen. Notice its developing wing buds.
Their nymph life style is not much different from the aphids. The famous Wanderer Butterflies are not eatable since their caterpillars are eating the toxic milkweed plants. It is logical to assume that they are not eatable too. This is no wonder that both the Milkweed Bugs nymphs and adults both have the bright warning colour patterns.
Notice their sucking mouths, the adults and nymph suck juice from the Milkweed plants. The Milkweed plants is supposed to evolved the toxic juice to against the plant-eater. However, once the insects evolved the mechanisms to overcome the toxic and store the toxic in their own body, they become not eatable. The toxic plant become their paradise. They can feed freely and openly on the plants, without the fear of predation. The only thing they have to do to to further evolved the warning colour to warn-off the predators.
At night, the Milkweed Bugs family hiding inside the milkweed seed pocket. When disturbed, they come out and run away. Some of them quickly drop to the ground.
