Of Milkweed and Milkweed Bugs

Most of the milkweed pods have released their seeds over the past month. I enjoyed photographing them in the sunlight and

In a staged setting of cut plant (it was blocking the path for the trick or treaters to my front door). The seeds are tightly packed and are usually released a few at time with each little breeze. If it rains, the fluff often becomes so matted that the seeds are bound together and eventually fall to the ground near the parent plant.

The milkweed bugs are out on warm afternoons all during this time – feeding on the pods before they open and then on the seeds. This year they were plentiful in the first week of November – with all stages of their bug development. (Note: the small yellow critters are aphids....they seem to enjoy the milkweed at the same time as the bugs but are on stems and leaves rather than the seed pods).

And then they were gone for this season. The milkweed and the bugs are ready for winter.