Large Milkweed Bug

Description:

Numerous nymphs - mostly later instars that were overall orange-yellow and black in color. They had black abdominal spots, orange pronotum with black posterior margin, and black wingpads.

Habitat:

Spotted on milkweed plants in a large, open meadow.

Notes:

Oncopeltus fasciatus is considered to be a model organism, and is often reared for laboratory experiments. These insects are very easy to rear and handle, have a short developmental time, and high fecundity. When I was in graduate school, I reared these insects and helped conduct experiments to investigate the potential for nontarget effects of entomopathogenic fungi used in the biological control of ticks.