Wear gloves and squish the little buggers...

If you turn over the leaves, you can spot the eggs.

I don't even use gloves, CalSherry! LOL! If I spot them, they're gone. Not even any seedpods yet. I've also got the milkweed bugs. Caught two of them mating and eggs all over the milkweed vine. Don't mind if they eat that, but they won't confine themselves to the vine. They are round and fat, so I usually toss them on the sidewalk and step on them.

Susan

Susan,

When they're young, I don't mind squishing with my bare fingers but when they're older, eeeuwww! ;P

Sherry

PS: It's funny since I have NO hesitation when it comes to squishing little spiders!

I meant I have the milkweed beetles, sorry! Heehee, I thought it was you, CalSherry, who talked about squishing them with your fingers. I usually do it quickly as I can and go wash my hands.

The fat milkweed bugs I don't - I pick them up and toss them on the ground and step on them. If I tried that with the bugs, they would just fly away before I could schmoosh them.

Susan

I have those bugs all year round and sooo many of them. I haven't even tried to get rid of them because I didn't know they were harmful to the plant. I will take a different approach now, however. I have so much milkweed and most of it is inaccessible because of the cottage garden environment I have going. But I do see many of them just running on the pavement and those I can get at so they will be history, as they say. And what do the eggs look like? Are their larva the slimy-looking little worm-like things on the plants? Murray

Nope! The eggs are these teeny little things like red dots. The babies are red, too! I have some pics up on my Monarch blog.

Here is a link that might be useful: tdogmom's Monarch blog ref to Large MW Bugs

I have milkweed bugs that have been nesting on my screen for a week now and they have been mating. There are alot of them and I tried spraying them with water to get rid of them but the next day they came back. Is there a spray that works to get rid of them?or do I have to kill them all?

Hi. I know this posting is rather old but I too am trying to find out what to do with these red bugs invading & destroying my butterfly milkweed plants. Not only do they suck on the seed pods but they destroy the leaves. A number of plants also look rather sick. It also seems that the monarchs are avoiding the milkweed once these bugs show up & set up shop. I would if I was a monarch! Those bugs are creepy looking! I am not too comfortable squashing them. They are just too fast but I noticed that they drop to the ground once you get near them.

So I devised a plan of attack. I put some soapy water in a tall chinese takeout soup container. I gently placed the container right under their little gathering and went after them with a one inch paint brush. Some dropped right into the soapy water and drowned. Others ran under the leafs but again I placed the container right under the leaf & flicked them in. I also went after the little ones hidden at the tops. I just waited a bit to allow the others that got away to regroup on the leaf or stem then I swept them in the container too. I had 100s of bugs on the first day. I patrol the milkweed once a day with my container & brush. I do believe I have them under control & I am seeing more caterpillars & plenty of healthy leaves to chew on. Just thought I would spread the word. DG

Oh, one more thing. Last week, I saw a red bug crawling up the stem after a Monarch that landed on a milkweed bloom. I haven't read anything on the red bugs being aggressive towards the Monarchs but I saw it from six feet away as I was attending to the garden. I was stunned. At that point, I decided the red bugs had to go! I also noted that the hatched bugs are ruining the blooms so the Monarchs can't feed. I grew a new batch of milkweed in another location and the red bugs quickly moved in.

dgorzycki64, I tried that for months last year. Forget it, I finally gave up. No matter how many I drowned, thousands of others appeared. There are so many babies you can't see they just keep appearing. I found that the Monarchs lay their eggs despite those bugs and as the weather starts to cool down they appear less and less and the plants eventually flower.

Yes, they do damage the plant (sucking insects), but I couldn't keep up with them. They must breed continually and if you grow a lot of milkweed, you wouldn't have any time left in the day trying to control them.

Jane

I'm smashing them as I see them. Ick

Hi Jane, Don't despair. In a short time I had the red bugs under control. You probably have more plants than I do. Once a day, I patrol with my one inch paint brush & soapy water container. Flick what you can into the container. Flick in a few more tomorrow and the next day. Soon you will see less & less. Check all the tops. The bug nurseries are there. You must clear out the nurseries. I just bend the top gently over the container & flick the little ones in. The little ones ruin the blooms. You can even flick in the yellow aphids but they are a little harder because they stick to the leaves. Make sure your bugs are dead before you discard the water.

The adults will try to hide under a leaf or move to the back of the stem. Be patient. Now I am seeing many more Cats & young Monarchs on healthier milkweed & that is the reward. We don't have cool temps in central Florida. Our milkweeds bloom all year round & there are young Monarchs still down here in the Summer. The red bugs are here all year & they are killing my milkweed.

The red bugs are too quick to "smash them." The word is out by me to hide when I approach but I move slowly & scan for their whereabouts then plan my approach. In time I get them. If they fall down into the dirt, I grab them with my garden gloves & toss them into the container. Hang in there. My mom & I just love when the Monarchs come by to feed & rest each day.

Hi, i am glad I found you guys. I have been battling these red little bugs for years and I am not gaining any ground. I am a squasher and I chase the big ones around until I get them. However, it's a losing battle. Now my larva only gets about an eighth of inch and disappears. Today I found tiny light green worms with white on their back on the leaves where the aphids are. Help!