The Bugs like Milkweed

Here are some more photos of the beautiful Milkweed, with some extra “guests.” Now insects like all flowers of course, but I wonder if those bugs, flies and wasps also feed off Milkweed to make themselves a less attractive prey to birds, like the Monarch butterflies apparently do.

Anyway, here are some photos of insects enjoying one of my favorite wildflowers. I still prefer to think that Milkweed smells like sweet fruit and vanilla – and not baby powder, as some friends suggested. :-}

Tarantula Hawk (Pepsis wasp) on Whitestem Milkweed (Asclepias albicans), Middle Fork Palm Wash, Anza Borrego Desert State Park, California. May 2017.

Fly hiding in a leaf of Indian Milkweed (Asclepias eriocarpa), Piedras Pintadas Trail, Rancho Bernardo, California, May 2017.

Bug on Indian Milkweed (Asclepias eriocarpa), Piedras Pintadas Trail, Rancho Bernardo, California, May 2017.

Tarantula Hawk (Pepsis Wasp) on Indian Milkweed (Asclepias eriocarpa), Piedras Pintadas Trail, Rancho Bernardo, California, May 2017.

Bee on Climbing Milkweed (Funastrum cynanchoides var. hartwegii), San Dieguito Lagoon, San Diego, California, July 2017.

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