Small milkweed bug
The small milkweed bug is a bright orange-red and black bug. On its back you can see a black heart shape inside an orange X. It lives where milkweed plants grow and loves their seeds.
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Fun facts
The babies start out all red and get black markings as they grow.
Its black head has a little red spot in the middle.
Only the grown-up bugs survive the winter. They wait until spring to lay eggs.
The mother lays her eggs on milkweed plants in spring.
People often mix it up with other red and black bugs.
Most asked questions about Small milkweed bug
?Is the small milkweed bug harmful?
No. It is harmless to people and does not sting.
?What does a milkweed bug eat?
Mostly flower nectar and milkweed seeds, and sometimes other insects.
?How big is a small milkweed bug?
About 1 centimetre long.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Lygaeus kalmii
- Named by
- Stål, 1874
- Group
- True bugs and cicadas
- Family
- Lygaeidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Hemiptera > Lygaeidae
- Lives on
- North America
- Also known as
- Common milkweed bug
Where the facts come from
- Lygaeus kalmii (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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