Where Do Large Milkweed Bugs Actually Live in the US?

Large Milkweed Bugs live in 40 US states and are confirmed absent from 4 more, based on 53,695 verified iNaturalist and GBIF records. This page covers every state at once instead of one near-identical page per state.

By Tim, founder of Easy Street Markets. I maintain the wildlife database and verify every animal and source myself.

The states with the strongest confirmed populations are Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado and Connecticut, and 34 more. These are real, verified iNaturalist and GBIF occurrence records, not modeled range estimates.

Large Milkweed Bugs have zero confirmed wild sightings in Alaska, Hawaii, Montana and Oregon, despite tens of thousands of nationwide observation records for the species. That is a real, checked absence, not a missing page.

A small number of states (5) have only a handful of unverified or vagrant records, too few to confirm large milkweed bugs as an established population there.

Confirmed states (40)

Not found (4)

Alaska
Hawaii
Montana
Oregon

Unconfirmed (5)

Only a handful of unverified or vagrant records exist for large milkweed bugs in Idaho, North Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wyoming, too few to confirm an established population.

Frequently asked questions

What states do large milkweed bugs live in?+

Large Milkweed Bugs have confirmed wild populations in 40 US states: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

Where are large milkweed bugs not found in the US?+

Large Milkweed Bugs have no confirmed wild sightings in Alaska, Hawaii, Montana and Oregon.

Full large milkweed bugs guides by state