Large milkweed bug
The large milkweed bug is a bright orange and black bug with a big X-shaped pattern on its back. It lives on milkweed plants in North and Central America. Its loud colours tell birds that it tastes terrible.
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Fun facts
Its eggs are bright orange and easy to spot.
Babies are mostly red with black feelers. They get more black spots and little wing pads as they grow.
It does not change inside a cocoon. It grows in four baby stages, which takes about a month.
Milkweed bugs from the north fly far away for the winter, while those in warm places stay at home.
Underneath, a male has one black band and a female has two black spots.
Most asked questions about Large milkweed bug
?Are milkweed bugs harmful?
No, they do not hurt people. They just live and feed on milkweed plants.
?Why is the milkweed bug orange and black?
The bright colours warn birds and other animals that it tastes nasty.
?How big is a large milkweed bug?
About 1.1 to 1.2 centimetres long.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Oncopeltus fasciatus
- Group
- True bugs and cicadas
- Family
- Lygaeidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Hemiptera > Lygaeidae
- Lives on
- North America
Where the facts come from
- Large milkweed bug (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Rhododendrites. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
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