Good/Bad/Ugly?: Aphids, Assasins and Milkweed Beetles

I need some help in deciding what to do about these three... I have a pretty extensive collection of milkweed that I love (Asclepias tuberosa), and it has some of each of these critters. What are the pros (if any) of keeping any of these three around? And the cons? How do I get rid of the milkweed beetles- they bite, and that's nearly a deal-breaker for me unless they have some strong benefits. Any advice on what to do here would be much appreciated!

you are always going to have aphids with milkweed. it's like cookies and milk. assassin bugs are good bugs, you don't want to kill them ever. the beetles are probably part of the plan too. you planted it for the butterflys, right? so it will get eaten down anyway. don't sweat the small stuff when it comes to butterfly weed. that's what it's there for.

trackinsand is right on. Butterfly weed comes with aphids. Later milkweed bugs and milkweed beetles arrive (both black and red). It's like that in nature, and the plant survives. It gets eaten up by the monarch caterpillars, and it survives. I don't like them any better than you, but if you do anything to the plant, you kill the cats. And that's even worse than the bugs. That's why you grow it....for the cats.

http://www.ento.csiro.au/Ecowatch/Insects_Invertebrates/dermaptera.htm

Hi,

I am just planting new seedlings of Asclepias incarnata and so...I guess I am to expect these insects, correct? Not following the link to an earwig page? I had one milkweed in my front yard for a few years and they seemed to attract a flying insect that looked like a colorful hornet. But didn't notice a beetle. what is a cat? You mean a caterpillar?

yes, you can expect those insects, though not sure where that earwig link came from. you can also expect beautiful butterflys and their babies, the caterpillars (cats).

trackinsand...thanks for your response. So these milkweed beetles bite? That doesn't sound like much fun. Can someone post a link to a photo of these, and also wondering if I get them, how you get rid of them?

BTW, for those of you growing milkweed, do you have any favorite companion plants with them that are really attractive together?

thanks :-)

i don't know if they bite or not. i don't think i've ever handled them. you can't get rid of them without getting rid of the other above-mentioned critters (aphids, cats) and if you do that, you defeat the whole purpose of having the milkweed in the first place. for anyone wanting milkweed for the sake of the plant itself and not using it as a host plant for which it was intended (continuation of certain butterfly species), i would say, don't have it. plant something else.

trackinsand...

I wonder if it has to be an all or nothing thing. I readily admit that my primary reason for growing it is not for the butterflies alone. Neither is it for the attractiveness of the plant. I guess it is a combination of motives. [g] I have a small yard and a short supply of energy, so every plant has to be carefully considered and do dual duty.

I should say that I have had a small batch of asclepias incarnata in my front yard for at least 5 years and have not seen any aphids, or caterpillars or beetles, just the orange marked large hornet like insects that seem to be particularly attracted to it. I have no idea why my experience with the plant is different then what you would expect. I am adding more asclepias. About 5 new plants along a 12 ft back of a border, so I am thinking it might attract more of what you might expect.

I would still love to hear what others have planted with their asclepias. Should I post that question on a different forum?

:-)

maybe in the perennial forum would be a good place to post it. i really do wish you luck with them. maybe it's different up there where you live or they haven't found you yet! lol

I've never been bitten by a milkweed beetle - though I don't touch them either.

I've had battled milkweed mites though - the nasty things will take over and out eat the caterpillars. I just wipe them off with a paper towel. Last year I thought I would stop wiping and see what they would do if I left the mites uncontrolled.

Well, my conclusion became that I have to wipe them off or there will be nothing left ...

I don't think the assassin bugs are good for the cats, they are predator insects. Best to kill the assassin bugs if you want any monarch cats to survive. There's a reson why they just sit on the plant and wait, I don't know if they can actually bring down an adult monarch, haven't seen any remains around my plants. If they ate aphids I might reconsider, but they don't seem to and they may be killing the ladybugs that are attracted to the aphids.