The milkweed bugs and milkweed beetles probably won't be as affected by spraying with water as the less mobile pests like aphids. Aren't the aphids on milkweed usually yellow/orange rather than red? Roger, are you asking if your red bugs are harmful from the point of view of the milkweed or the monarchs? If the bugs are damaging the seed pod and you want to save seeds they might be a problem. Otherwise I wouldn't be concerned about them. Since they are on the pods I suspect they are the nymphs of one of the two milkweed bugs rather than the beetles, but if you can ID them from the links posted earlier, or post a picture of them here, we can help more.
Adding some more pics here:
http://www.restoringthelandsca...
