This is a new plant for me: planted as a tiny guy in late spring but, as you can see, seems to be doing well and growing nicely. In the last few days, I've noticed hundreds of bright orange dots on the stems and undersides of leaves (see photo in following post). Given their color, I'd love to think they're monarch eggs; but at this time of year? Aren't the monarchs on their way to Mexico? Any clue what I'm seeing here?
Pretty sure they're aphids - I see 'em all the time on Milkweeds
http://davesgarden.com/guides/bf/go/261/
http://bugguide.net/node/view/6167
Thanks, claypa, but that's a bummer. I happily tolerate a moderate number of aphids to accomodate the other guys who eat them, but that's one heck of a lot of aphids.
I have an Asclepias in my garden for the first time this year and almost passed out when I saw the number of aphids on it! But...the cats still came to it like crazy. The good thing is, it apparently drew the aphids so well that they didn't get on the nearby Oriental Lilies, as they normally do. The aphids left later in the summer and the plant seems no worse for wear.
Interesting: I didn't have the aphids on the asclepias in summer, but they're all over it now. Glad to hear they didn't deter the cats; hopefully we'll have those as well next year.
I never see them until September either
I raise Monarchs and have had to deal with the aphids and milkweed bugs all summer. I use my glove hand to squish them. They are a drawing card for "beneficials" like hover fly larva. Only problem for me is, the hover fly isn't so "beneficial" for raising Monarch cats since they'll eat them too. That's why I squish the aphids when I have an over abundance of them on my mw plants. Before the Monarchs lay eggs I have sprayed soapy water on them.
Sorry, edited to erase a double post.
This message was edited Oct 6, 2007 10:25 AM
At what time(s) of year are you likely to have the monarch eggs or cats? After spraying the plants with water, I still have an army of aphids. Since it's end of season, I'm tempted to use a pyrethrin spray or Safer's Soap - but not if there's any risk of harming the monarch larva or eggs.
I still have Monarch cats on my Milkweeds now. Saw my first cat on May 6 and yesterday, Oct 7, I saw some cats on my milkweed. I'll be bringing those in to raise. The only safest way to eliminate aphids during cat season is the hand of death. Gross I know. Before I would use the hard stuff, I'd check the plants with a fine tooth comb for Monarch eggs and cats.
That's pretty much what I figured. I have a good idea what the cats look like, but not the eggs: how small and what color?
Very small, about the size of a straight pin head, round, creamy white to pale yellow. As the eggs start to hatch, you can see a tiny black dot in the middle of the egg as the egg itself appears to turn black. At this point, the egg is actually transparent and the black is actually the head of the cat about to emerge.
Here's my Monarch diary page. I just noticed I need to start taking more pictures of the eggs, caterpillars and butterfies that I raise.
http://davesgarden.com/tools/blog/index.php?tabid=4407
