Faunal Associations:
The nectar of the flowers attracts long-tongued bees, butterflies, and skippers. To a lesser extent, green metallic bees and other Halictid bees may visit the flowers, but they are less effective at pollination.
Another unusual visitor of the flowers is the Ruby-Throated Hummingbird. Among the butterflies, such visitors as the Pipevine Swallowtail, Giant Swallowtail, American Painted Lady, Red Admiral, Clouded Sulfur, Eastern Tailed-Blue, Regal Fritillary, Great Spangled Fritillary, and many others have been reported.
A group of oligophagous insects feed on milkweeds. They include caterpillars of the butterfly Danaus plexippes (Monarch); caterpillars of the moths Cycnia inopinatus (Unexpected Cycnia) and Cycnia tenera (Delicate Cycnia); the aphids Aphis asclepiadis, Aphis nerii, and Myzocallis asclepiadis; Lygaeus kalmii (Small Milkweed Bug) and Oncopeltus fasciatus (Large Milkweed Bug); and Tetraopes tetrophthalmus (Red Milkweed Beetle).
Mammalian herbivores rarely consume Purple Milkweed and other milkweeds because of the bitter-tasting, toxic foliage, which contains cardiac glycosides.
https://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/savanna/plants/pur_milkweed.htm
Well now we know!
Thanks all 🙂
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