why, i have no idea

What are those yellow thingies crawling on my milkweed plant?

Are they the babies of the bigger orange & black striped bug?

Of what USE are these yellow fat insects?
Were the striped bugs snacking on them like popcorn?
Or maybe these guys were sucking then down?

Why, I have no idea...

One minute everything is hunky-dory in my friendly & quiet milkweed neighborhood.

Red and yellow flowers blooming under the hot Florida sun.

Bright bundles of blossoms shouting out to any & all butterflies to just drop on in and rest a spell.

Then these guys show up in amazing numbers.
I do not even remember inviting them to tea.

I might add, the stripey bugs seem to find my tall milkweed plants an ideal location for intimate~~but seemingly long~lasting~~encounters.

Leaning down close..and closer still... I could almost here their mating call...

At first I thought the wee yellow bugettes were the rapid result of spirited intercourse between the larger bugs.

But NO they are not.

The big striped guys turned out to be milkweed bugs {{ go figure! }} and the fat, roly-poly yellow ones are yellow aphids.

I might add that I gleaned this bit of insect knowledge this morning on the Internet whilst I had my morning tea.

As I skip my way through life, working on one scout badge right after another, I am joyfully amazed at how my education grows rapidly between my front yard garden  and my front porch swing thanks to my sweetly accommodating laptop.

Thank goodness.

Yesterday morning when I left the house at 8am~~ taking my dear mom to her great grand~daughter's first birthday party~~the gas at the corner station was selling for $3.72 a gallon.

Last night when I drove by the Same Station at 10pm~~after the Selana Gomez concert where I happily volunteer~~gas was selling for $3.64.

What happened during the day to cause this drop in gasoline prices?

Why, I have no idea...

I guess some things just happen naturally.

Comments

[Marilyn]

I have not seen yellow aphids. Your pictures make them look cute, but really I wouldn't want them. Your milkweed is so pretty. I am not sure I have seen milkweed so pretty.

Now gas at varying prices, that can be confusing. If you bought it in the morning at a higher price and take it back in the evening at a lower price will they refund the difference? Just wondering and smiling!

[Stephanie]

So many things I learned here today...

I have never seen milkweed that looks like Lantana like yours does...

I have never seen yellow aphids, I have a post waiting patiently in the wings about lady bugs and their love of white aphids

and

how you have photographed this ALL to look so beautifully inviting...and all the while Al serenading us

x..x

[grrlandog]

funny, those things are here too, infesting a tree, both kinds, and I always wondered what they are.

[susanna]

That's a lot of yellow aphids, spf! Were you able to get rid of them or are you letting them be? Either way, they are tasty treats for the other small things on the food chain.

I can't figure out gas prices, either. I can't figure out how oil companies still have their loopholes, either. Sigh.

[rochambeau]

We can learn a lot from the bugs n' flowers, but not so sure about the people who sell gas!.

Hope your weekend is going swimmingly, SPF!!

xox
Constance

[J]

Amazing gorgeous photos! Thank you for sharing them.