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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » True Bugs, Cicadas, Hoppers, Aphids and Allies (Hemiptera) » True Bugs (Heteroptera) » Pentatomomorpha » Lygaeoidea » Seed Bugs (Lygaeidae) » Lygaeinae » Oncopeltus » subgenus Erythrischius (Oncopeltus subgenus Erythrischius) » Large Milkweed Bug (Oncopeltus fasciatus)
Photo#209180
Oncopeltus fasciatus - Large Milkweed Bug - Oncopeltus fasciatus
Copyright © 2008 Roger Rittmaster

Oncopeltus fasciatus - Large Milkweed Bug - Oncopeltus fasciatus
durham County, North Carolina, USA
July 23, 2008
Size: tiny
Does anyone know if these are Lygaeus or Oncopeltis? Also there appear to be a bunch of dead aphids around them. Do they feed on aphids or on the juices of the milkweed. They were on a milkweed pod.

Images of this individual: tag all
Oncopeltus fasciatus - Large Milkweed Bug - Oncopeltus fasciatus Milkweed bug nymphs - 10 days later - Oncopeltus fasciatus
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Contributed by Roger Rittmaster on 2 August, 2008 - 2:23pm
Last updated 2 August, 2008 - 8:47pm

Molting
I don't see any dead aphids; those dried up things are the skins of previous instars shed during molting. You see similar ones quite often in such aggregations.
… Beatriz Moisset, 1 September, 2010 - 7:03pm login or register to post comments

I'd go for Large Milkweed Bug
(due to no diagonal markings on pronotum - though I'm not sure how early those appear) and I think those could be shed exoskeletons, rather than aphids, but I can't really be sure at this level of detail.
… Hannah Nendick-Mason, 2 August, 2008 - 2:30pm login or register to post comments

 
Thanks.
Your comment about exoskeletons makes a lot of sense. I actually transplanted some of the nymphs to another pod with aphids, and there was no carnage.
… Roger Rittmaster, 2 August, 2008 - 2:54pm login or register to post comments

 
Whatever they are, they are not carnivores : )
I'm actually leaning more towards Small Milkweed Bug now, though, after comparing other images in the guide - these are so much more red than the usually orangish Large Milkweed Bug . Compare both:



Any chance you could go back and look for more mature bugs to confirm?
… Hannah Nendick-Mason, 2 August, 2008 - 2:59pm login or register to post comments

 
Definitely Large Milkweed Bugs
They're on a tropical milkweed on my patio. I just checked. The more mature ones look exactly like the right hand picture.
… Roger Rittmaster, 2 August, 2008 - 3:34pm login or register to post comments

 
Nice to be able to confirm
you could even add some shots as they mature.
… Hannah Nendick-Mason, 2 August, 2008 - 3:36pm login or register to post comments

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