Small Milkweed Plant. Milkweed is the monarch s host plant and thus it is a must for a monarch garden. It shares the orange and black color scheme of the large milkweed bug but its marking is different.
This year we ve noticed large populations of aphids on swamp milkweed plants and we ve identified them as the oleander aphid aphis nerii which is sometimes referred to as the milkweed aphid figure 1. It shares the orange and black color scheme of the large milkweed bug but its marking is different. The small milkweed bug also has a dull red spot on its.
However it is not uncommon to notice large populations of small yellow insects covering the leaves and stems of the milkweed plants.
The orange or red bands on the dorsal side form a bold x marking although the center of the x isn t complete. The small or common milkweed bug reaches only 10 to 12 millimeters in length. Common milkweed asclepias syriaca is a native herbaceous perennial whose main virtue is its appeal to butterflies especially the monarch which deposits its eggs on the milkweed when the caterpillars hatch they feed on the leaves of milkweed. Vintage small flower background.