Wednesday, October 27, 2010

"White" Large Milkweed Bug

Just about anyone who spends any time looking at milkweed plants is familiar with the Large Milkweed Bug, Oncopeltus fasciatus. These beautiful insects sport the colors of Halloween, and love to chow down on the leaves of milkweed.

Photo courtesy of Sandy Brown.

However, you may not be familiar with the short-lived ghostly white form that one of these bugs wears just after its final molt. I wasn't, until Sandy Brown sent along these cool photos. A typical adult can be seen amongst the younger nymphs in the top left corner of the photo; in short order, that's what the white bug will resemble.

Photo courtesy of Sandy Brown.

Thanks to Sandy for sharing her images with us!

1 comment:

John Lancos said...

Thanks for identifying this form for me, as I just photographed one in Brooklyn, NY this morning. I thought it was a completely different species. I have never seen one of these before, and need to do some more research on this very interesting variation.