Milkweed

I've been babying a patch of common milkweed that I started from seed a few years ago.  No, this picture is not from my patch.  Mine has become food for rabbits.  I thought milkweed was poisonous and rabbits wouldn't touch it.  Not so.  It has been reduced to a few leafless sticks.

 

Invaders vs invasive

Suddenly, I'm seeing these beautiful bugs on my butterfly milkweed.  They're everywhere on it, crawling all over the seedpods I've been watching, hoping for seeds to extend my milkweed patch.  It turns out they're Milkweed bugs (see here).  They don't hurt the plant.  They don't damage any monarch eggs.  Their sole purpose is to destroy the seeds of the milkweed.  In nature, that keeps the potentially invasive milkweed seeds from spreading everywhere.  I hope they leave enough for me.