The Milkweed Patch
A Place for Resting, Seeking
Refuge and Making a Home
Hildegard Kuse
Loretta Kuse
Resting in the Milkweed Patch
• In most milkweed patches other plants such
as grasses and goldenrod grow there too.
• These plants attract seed and leaf-eating
animals that do not feed on the milkweed
plant. These animals may use the sturdy
milkweed plant to rest on or find shelter.
• These creatures might become prey to the
predators lurking in the milkweed patch.
A Nursery for Young Spiderlings
• Nursery Web Spiders place their egg sac between folded leaves
fastened together with a network of silk threads.
•
This makes a safe hiding place for their young.
Nursery Web Spider
Pisaura mirabilis
Nursery Web Spider Guarding its
Nest
Nursery Web Spider’s Egg Sac
Firefly on Milkweed Leaf
(Family Lampyidae)
Larvae feed on small animals in debris. Adults may feed on nectar.
Firefly on Milkweed Leaf
(Family Lampyidae)
Ebony Jewelwing Damselfly on
Milkweed Leaf
Common Blue Damselfly
(Enallagma cyathigerum)
Red Green Leafhoppers Mating
on Milkweed Leaf
Leafhopper on Milkweed Leaf
•
The leafhopper is not known to feed on milkweed plants but may come there
occasionally.
Leafhopper on Milkweed Leaf
• This Leafhopper is resting on a milkweed leaf.
Grasshopper resting on milkweed
Grasshopper Resting on Milkweed
Katydid resting on milkweed
The Song Sparrow is sitting on
milkweed while eating grass
seeds.
White moth sitting on milkweed
leaf.
A Yellow Dragonfly is Resting on
a Milkweed Leaf
Young Rabbit Seeking Refuge
Among Milkweed Plants