Aphid colony

in Fascinating Insects3 years ago

Aphid colony rose 10.jpg

One of the worst and most annoying little pests I know. They show up on your plants out of nowhere and in no time there is billion of them!
Once you think you wont the battle.... they show up again :p

This is not my rose so I guess it was just a little less annoying, but we often had them on roses, Viburnum opulus, honeysuckle, fennel, beans... and no amount of little ladybirds would be able to help.

Please enjoy the abundance of little devils.

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Below you can also see a very young Budworm I think. Many of the buds on the bush were completely destroyed and eaten up.

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You can see how they pierce the stem and suck up the plants sap with the little sucking tool (proboscis).

I was actually surprised not to see any ant around them. They usually farm them for their sweet excrement and protect them from any other creature. One of the nice symbiosis of the world :). Food (drinks actually) for protection.

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On the same bush I also found this little guy: Speckled Bush Cricket

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Shot with Nikon D5500 + Sigma 105mm lens
All photos and text are my own.



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Now, you need some Ladybugs to help control the aphids!

A whole army of them!

Time to strategically plant a couple lady bugs onto those plants.

Weird that I didn't see any of them. So much free food! :D

Neem oil seemed to work on them.

I'll keep it in mind when they show up on my plants. Thanks :)

I only used it because I didn't want them attacking my peppers and I didn't want to spray pesticide on them then eat it later on the peppers. It also worked well for reducing the aphids. Sadly my mantis eggs didn't hatch, I was hoping to have some preying mantis guardians to eat any remaining aphids but the ones I got from the store were duds and didn't hatch.

I have been using neem oil for mealybugs on cacti and trips on orchids. Seems to be working well if used regularly. I will sell the idea to mum - she keeps getting aphids on roses.

In fact the predator there is the bush cricket. I also get hoverflies that come to eat the aphids and that little wasp-like creature in one of your pictures could be a predator too

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Amazing photos !!!

Thank you :)

I wonder what those two spikes on their butt are for.

I think they eventually turn into wings as they get older.

They are called Cornicles.
I had no idea what they are for until now too :)

@sketch.and.jam

Ah so that's what the ants milk for their plant sugars.

I have to agree with you. Truly one of the worst and most annoying little pests. Awesome photos by the way. :)

Yep, yep... Very annoying and hard to get rid of.
Thank you :)

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Oh no... little devils 😤 But at least your photos are superb!
Now, call Dexter to help you eliminate them :D

I hosed them good :P

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very good, top

Hi, I'm happy to see the photos, especially the biological controllers and at the same time sad to see the plants being eaten by the aphids. Good vibes!

Thanks! The plant will be fine. Pity so many got to it though.

Ufff, looks kinda gross when enlarged lol Do they appear on plans at home or just outside?

Hmm I don't think I even had them inside the house. But I did find them on my plants on the balcony.

Oh wow! These bugs are really nasty! Every gardener nightmare! But you did a great job photographing them!

I think the only good thing about them is that they look cool on photos :p
Thank you Lenka! :D