I was out photographing plants the other evening when something caught my eye. It was Zelus longipes—a milkweed assassin bug—slowly crawling across the corymb of Achillea millefolium. These are such great insects to have in the garden because they prey upon many pests. Fun fact on their feeding behavior—they stick their stylet into their prey and release digesting enzymes, and then they suck their nourishment out of the exoskeleton shell. What a way to go!
I retrained my camera lens from flowers to this insect as I like to use my own photos of good (sadistic!?!) bugs in the garden when educating folks. But, then it did something unexpected. It lowered its head into one of the flowers. And, then another. And, then another!
I guess when the milkweed assassin bug isn’t digesting its prey it needs something else to feed on.
I was so surprised to see it feeding on nectar. It seems I’m not the first person to document this behavior.
I have long heard that Achillea millefolium is a wonderful native to grow in your garden for insects, and this observation further strengthens that case. We never know all the good—and schadenfreude when I think of all the bad bugs this creature will eat—that can come from having a diverse planting.