Large Milkweed Bug
Oncopeltus fasciatus
Insecta
COMMON
Stats
- Lifespan
- A few weeks
- Size
- Medium
- Diet
- Herbivore
- Activity
- Diurnal
- Social
- Aggregation
- Biome
- Temperate grassland
- Range
- North America
- Movement
- Flight
- Breeding
- Egg-laying
- Defense
- Warning Colors
- Status
- Common
About
The Large Milkweed Bug is a conspicuously orange-and-black true bug that sequesters toxic cardenolides from milkweed seeds, making it unpalatable to most predators. It has been a laboratory staple for decades — NASA even flew specimens aboard the Space Shuttle to study insect development in microgravity.
Life cycle
- 1.eggA small egg is laid on or near the larval food source and hatches within days or weeks.
- 2.juvenileAn immature insect feeds and molts, growing through successive instars.
- 3.subadultA near-adult insect has wing buds or near-mature form, one molt away from full size.
- 4.adultFully grown, with full wings and adult coloration.
Learn more
Taxonomy
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Arthropoda
- Class
- Insecta
- Order
- Hemiptera
- Family
- Lygaeidae
- Genus
- Oncopeltus
- Species
- Oncopeltus fasciatus