Peachy Flowers and Fall Bugs

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Peach is a just right color for fall. It blends in so well with the bright gold marigolds, shiny yellow bells, red salvias and umber sedum blooms.
Photo: Apricot Blush Zinnia

Photo: Dahlia from Old House Gardens


Can you tell I rely on zinnias to fill the late summer beds and keep them looking exciting until frost?

Photo: And then there are the fall bugs to deal with. The search is on. They aren't red milkweed beetles.

Ah, they are milkweed leaf beetles. Thanks to the Texas Entomology site Texas Ento dot net we now know that their formal name is Labidomera clivicollis.

The Bug Guide calls them Swamp Milkweed Leaf Beetles.

Iowa State's site says that there are actually 457 separate insects that eat milkweed. The author notes that the bugs aren't a problem unless one is trying to raise milkweed as a crop.

Well, but I'm raising milkweed to make Monarch waystations

.... so, do I drop those bugs into soapy water or let them eat, lay eggs in the soil and come back in bigger numbers next year?

Not exactly a moral dilemma but what would you do? Let them eat and make babies or drop them in the bucket?

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