Growing Milkweed is a Good Thing for Butterflies…

I was watering a few plants from my deck barrel that I’ve filled with dish rinse water every evening. Lugging up and down the deck stairs, buckets of water is just not for me anymore. My shoulders and back tend to protest quite loudly by the end of the day.

So, I removed the screen off the top( used to keep bugs out) of the garbage can that was stored in the yard when I bought my home over 16 years ago. It stayed underneath my new deck for years, until a few years back.

It was one of those old aluminum trash cans I could remember my grandparents owning many, many moons ago. I painted it and began using it with a grin as this always brings back memories of watching my grandmother line the trash can with newspaper, remember back then there were no plastic garbage cans or plastic garbage bags..

Garbage day was always a lot louder than today, since all of the aluminum trash cans were banged against the garbage trucks with an extra bang to remove all of the newspaper that lined the can and all of the cans up and down the street were dented in the middle too.

And, to my surprise after watering the Garden Trug box I found this bug below circling the rim of the can over and over.

This summer I realized that I sort of like finding bugs for the first time, and then trying to find out what they are and what attracts them. I also want to learn if they are beneficial to my garden or if they are not. So, I ran inside ~ (walked) to retrieve my camera in hopes it didn’t fly away like the birds always do when I want a picture of them.

In my excitement to hurry and get back these pictures are not of the best quality, but I have a link and will show you a clearer picture of these bugs, which I thought was a beetle of some sort.

Researching this bug I learned it’s not a beetle but rather a True Bug… I had no idea there was such a thing as a True Bug. Hum…learning is great…even at my age… wink

These bugs are attracted to the Milkweed plant, which also attracts the butterflies.

Courtesy of:

http://www.restoringthelandscape.com/2011/01/milkweeds-and-their-associated-insects.html

The link above is very interesting if you want to help out the beautiful butterflies in your garden or just want to bring them into the garden as well.

Back to this True Bug, called : Small Milkweed Bug, Lygaeus kalmii. They are immune to the toxins in milkweed, and are consequently toxic to predatory insects.

The funny thing was this Milkweed Bug was happy as can be circling round and round the top of the can, until I placed the bug on the railing because I needed to replace the screen on the water can and move on to other things in the garden. This bug didn’t even mind me bringing the camera very close ( too close) to get a picture that I thought at the time was a clear one..

Below is a better picture for you from: Lynette Schimming
from BugGuide.net

I just was amazed at this tiny creature with its markings so bright and beautiful. When I read how it can survive the toxic milkweed and be toxic to other bugs, I found it interesting the marking on the top were of a heart… Like this creature saying,

“I know I’m toxic, but love me just the same.”

Until next time

❤

~Laura~