arkienurse said:

finally got rid of the ants caring for the aphids.Have noticed a drastic
reduction in the little yellow buggers. Now I notice this funny orange and
black insect on my plants. Yup, the milkweed bugs have found us now.
And there is something feeding on the leaves that looks right now like a
ladybug without the colors. It is a neutral color, like a freshly hatched
thing that is transparent for now but will get color later. I kinda think
it might be milkweed bugs, freshly hatched, but can't find pix on the net.

Milkweed leaf beetle larvae:
http://www.entomology.cornell.edu/Fa...b/images/4.jpg

Milkweed leaf beetle info:
http://www.texasento.net/Labidomera.htm

I had so desperately hoped it was monarch cats, but I see that they look
like cats from the start.

I've only once had monarch caterpillars on my Asclepias (tuberosa and
incarnata), most years I have to pick off milkweed leaf beetles, less often
milkweed tiger moth caterpillars, and never either of the milkweed bugs
(possibly because I pull the green pods when they are small).

I've also not had aphids, but do have infestations of spider mites on
the A. incarnata during dry summers (like this one). 8^(

--
Pat in Plymouth MI ('someplace.net' is comcast)

Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
(attributed to Don Marti)