Just to double check... since you mention orange... see if you don’t have oleander aphids instead? Milkweed bugs are more red.

To take care of them ...

look around and move any monarch caterpillars first and then you can spray rubbing alcohol on them. It dries them up and kills them fast. thus works in milkweeed bugs too except you might have to do a few rounds

I take an empty plastic container and fill with water and a drop of dish soap. Shake them right into it and it kills them. Adult ones too, and Japanese beetles.

Sprinkle diatomaceous earth all over it. It is safe for people for pets if not inhaled. It kills a shelled bugs within 24 hours.

It is an organic treatment.

I never recommend DE for outdoor use. It is indiscriminately hazardous to all arthropods, including those we consider as highly beneficial.

mxk, will you not use insecticidal soap? The commercial stuff is easy on the plants, while being effective on soft bodied insects. Meant to be applied directly to the pests, it is only effective while wet. The true insecticidal soap is much more effective than the homemade potions and easier on plant tissues than any dish detergent.

If you don't want to try the soap, I'd use a good spray of water plus a lot of swiping and squishing action with my fingers. That's my advice whether the issue is the pesky oleander aphids or the milkweed bug nymphs (which look orange to me).

Thanks for the suggestions. I did see a monarch caterpillar yesterday, so they're still around, have to be careful. A storm was blowing in so couldn't really deal with the situation yesterday. I'll take another look today and decide what to do.

I’ll just take a water hose and wash them off with the stream of water or a small spray of water. They fall off and don’t go back

I put DE all over my German chamomile and echinacea last year, except on the flowers, and it helped keep thrips at bay. DE you must apply on a windless day, and it kills hard shelled bugs in 24 hours. It is a good adjunct with other organic treatments, like using it as a perimeter for your plants, and it won’t hurt your plants because they are diatoms within it, which come from ocean beds.

Except on the flowers, because it can also hurt bees and butterflies.

I used the food grade kind of DE, because I planned to use my chamomile, and it is safe to for us to ingest in case in washing it after being cut I had missed any of it coming off.

DE does need reapplied after heavy rains.

Another option, if you can stand it, is to leave well enough alone and wait for beneficial predatory insects to move in. I have had terrible aphid infestations on milkweeds, but the plants always rebounded the next season. Eventually, the aphids will be controlled by the ladybug nymphs and other beneficials. But, if you use pesticides or the hose/squishing method, the predators will be killed or not have an incentive to move in. Allowing nature to reach a balance can take lots of patience and fortitude. Good luck.

Martha

I have them too on the Milkweed seedpods!!!

I am all for some natural balance...( I don't spray or treat anything in the yard with chems)... but none of what us humans do in gardening is how natural would do it if left to her own devices.... so for me these types of aphids get the squish treatment. I want pretty flowers! Sure they won't kill the plant. They won't drain the life out of every single bloom head. They won't drain the life out of every single seed pot. But do I want a struggling plant?

I had a large swamp milkweed two years back that just got covered in these guys.... lots of ladybugs and their nymphs moved it and were having a grand ol' time... but they in no way put the aphids in check. I was collecting and raising the monarch caterpillars from the plant earlier... so I didn't want to do anything. But after plant is under stress... monarchs stop depositing eggs on it anyway. So now I do a round of squishing and all is well.

if you don’t get monarchs, the alcohol spray works quickly on the other hand.

Spray with water hose and they will fall off the plant and die. Be sure to spray underneath the leaves