Random crap with Uno.

[Unorthodox]

Well.

Just loaned out pretty much everything of material worth in my halloween collection. 

[Buster's Uncle]

Oh?

[Geo]

For money?

[Unorthodox]

No, not rented. 

In support of the boss (hEt).  She's running a relay race over the mountains, and part of her team being allowed in mandated volunteers.  I thus got volunteered, and then came the requests for equipment from volunteers...and here we are.  Exchange 19 is being brought to you by An Unorthodox Halloween.  All goes well, I bring it home after my shift tomorrow morning. 

If it gets busted up though, it'll take me years to replace. 

[Geo]

If it gets busted up though, it'll take me years to replace.

You must love her very much.

[Unorthodox]

Yay!

Milkweed beetles are back!

6 bee species are going bonkers on the milkweed blossoms too.

[Rusty Edge]

I was always happy to see milkweed pests...

This has me wondering. What about the rest of their life cycle? Where are the larvae? Do they chew the roots, bore the stalk, among the blossoms?  I never noticed.

[Unorthodox]

I was always happy to see milkweed pests...

This has me wondering. What about the rest of their life cycle? Where are the larvae? Do they chew the roots, bore the stalk, among the blossoms?  I never noticed.

Well, depends on which one's your talking about, really. 

Milkweed BUGS, the true bug variant plants eggs under leaves, and the young live their lives through instar stages on the milkweed.  Most advocate killing these, as they attack the seed pods of the milkweed...My milkweed mostly spreads via roots anyway, so I don't care. 

The Red milkweed beetle, there are 13 species, but I believe they all have the eggs laid around the base of the plant, the grubs burrow into the stem, or into wood around the base of the plant and feed on either rotting leaves or roots overwinter, then pupate in late spring to spend the summer as adult longhorn beetles. 

They are harmless as far as I'm concerned.  If you get a plague of them, they could kill a plant, but mostly the amount of sap they suck out is inconsequential. 

Milkweed LEAF beetles (look like oversized ladybugs) are a back east thing and I'd have to google that.  I do know they are frequent targets of hostilities from monarch lovers as they directly compete with the caterpillars in eating the leaves. 

[Rusty Edge]

Thanks!

I grew up on an Eastern farm, and spent a lot of time pulling and cutting them.  They were hard work when the clay was dry. The milky sap was sticky and dark as it dried. I hated those weeds. The red beetles with the long antennae were pretty, and they only bothered the milkweeds.

[Unorthodox]

In general, I find longhorn beetles the most beautiful insects there are. 

In fact, a banded alder borer was the prize of my collection.  Incredibly difficult to find a good specimen, they are one of the few bugs you can make money selling carcasses.  All the more impressive was they had no business being in utah.  We had a (very rare here) tornado the day before I found it, figure the storm blew it in from somewhere.  Since, it has expanded it's range and there are now confirmed breeding populations around here, but still very rare, if no longer endangered. 

[Unorthodox]

Random crap:

The unusual milkweed flower...



Red Milkweed Beetles love em



Bees love em...



HOWEVER, little known fact...they are also dangerous traps for bees.  Note the bee's leg stuck in the flower, he died never able to free himself. 



In fact, only the bottom bee is still alive here, and he's quite stuck/likely dead tonight.  (of side interest is what appears to be an italian honeybee in the middle there.  One of the local keepers is playing around...)



The native bees don't  seem to have the same problem, at least not yet.  The bumblebees are just too bulky to get stuck, and the other natives visiting haven't had problems. 

[Geo]

Don't think I ever noticed this kind of flower in my region.

Edit: indeed, its called the "silkplant" in Dutch, and appears to be an invasive species in Europe.

[Unorthodox]

Yes, it's native to north america.  I imagine it would be a bear to get rid of as an invasive species, given how hardy it is here. 

[Dio]

I feel as though the insect diversity where I live is depressingly low. The main insects I see are a few beetles, a few butterflys, and an occasional dragonfly .

[Unorthodox]

Chances are you just aren't looking.  Though, our diversity has skyrocketed since we started the garden.