Who Else Eats Milkweed?

Just in case you were operating under the assumption that the only thing that eats milkweed is the monarch butterfly last week you read that the milkweed tussock caterpillar or milkweed tiger moth dines on this plant too.  There is also this: 

click on image to enlarge

 

Meet - Aphis nerii - an aphid of the family Aphididae.  The common name is oleander aphid or milkweed aphid.  Gross, eh?    

When I spied this my first impression was that this was pollen.  But that didn't make any sense.  Milkweed doesn't have yellow pollen on its leaves.  Upon close examination this suspected 'pollen' was moving.  It was an infestation of tiny yellow aphids feasting on the milkweed and sucking its vital force from it like a horde of little vampires. 

A large colony like this will eventually lead to death of the milkweed plant.  And get this - the colony grows by means of parthenogenesis.  The young are produced asexually as the females give birth to live nymphs without the participation of males. 

This is too gross for words.  Jill chopped-off the infested portion of the milkweed plant and properly sealed it in a plastic bag to roast in the sun. 

Death to the nasty, sticky, sap-sucking, vampires.