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General: Small Milkweed Bugs (Lygaeus kalmii) are Seed Bugs (Lygaeidae) that have piercing mouth parts and feed on plants by sucking their fluids. Small Milkweed Bugs are recognized by the big red X across the back that does not quite touch at the center, the black head with a red dot, and the two dark semicircular spots on the posterior portion of the pronotum. Western forms have two white spots in the black on the wings.
Small Milkweed Bug can be disease vectors for plants, but these tiny creatures are entirely harmless to humans.
Taxonomy: Insecta (Insects), Hemiptera (True Bugs, Cicadas, Hoppers, Aphids and Allies), Heteroptera (True Bugs), Lygaeidae (Seed Bugs) |