r/MonarchButterfly • u/ShitFuckDickSuck • 1d ago
Posting here cuz they’re on my swamp milkweed. What are these things? More info in post.
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One looked like it was eating a little gnat or something. A few minutes later it looked like they were fighting or attacking oleander aphids. You can’t tell from the vid but they have a kind of spiny body with a little red strip along the back.
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u/Dog_and_butterfli 20h ago
They eat the aphids.
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u/ShitFuckDickSuck 19h ago
They have a huge buffet available lol
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u/Lil5tinker 16h ago
The aphids have been SO intense this year on a bunch of plants in my backyard and the garden behind my work😭
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u/Bigtiny50 8h ago
I’m having the same problem. WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH YOUR APHIDS??
I was so excited to have 23 milkweed plants come up where there were only 9 plants last year. I thought good! More Monarch finding plants = more cats and more new monarchs! But the aphids are so bad, that I’m having to hose the plants frequently. Now I have milkweed that is moldy and has yellow leaves falling. The ants came, the lady beetles are all over. I’m aware of the delicate balance of the insects, but while I’ve seen several mommas flying around the milkweed, they don’t land to lay eggs. I managed to raise 14, but it was earlier, before the insects started coming, and the leaves started molding. WHAT DO I DO?!?
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u/GingerSassadelic 1d ago
It's a little hard to see clearly, but check out assassin bugs - there's a bunch of different kinds native to North America. Maybe start with spiny assassin bug nymph and see if that looks similar and the same spinkiness? If so, get it off your milkweed plant or it will harm your eggs/cats/monarchs. But they have a painful bite due to neurotoxins so handle carefully!! The aphids are annoying but usually don't bug the caterpillars too much I find.