The promise and peril of milkweed

TRR photo by Ed Wesely Shield bugs, such as the dead one in the picture, prey on monarch caterpillars and small milkweed insects and are preyed on by spiders. The spider had concealed itself under a milkweed leaf.

The promise and peril of milkweed

Two weeks ago I described butterflies that visit milkweed flowers. Insect species that actively feed on the leaves include milkweed bugs, with piercing mouthparts, and milkweed longhorn beetles, with small jaws (“mandibles”) that work from side-to-side. When aphid colonies appear, ladybug beetles visit to prey on them.

The most common predators include shield bugs, various spider species and harvestmen (better know as “daddy-long-legs”).

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Protecting Pennsylvania’s state tree

MILFORD, PA—An informational workshop on what landowners can do to protect and prevent Pennsylvania’s state tree, the hemlock, from the woolly adelgid, will be presented at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, July 21, at Grey Towers National Historic Site.

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Identifying wild edibles

DAMASCUS, PA —Nathaniel Whitmore will lead an edible and medicinal plant tour at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, July 23, at the Whitmore family farm in Damascus, PA. The tour will include many plants that appear on old farms and in gardens as “weeds,” as well as a discussion of mushrooms.

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A D V E R T I S E M E N T S