THE SECRET LIVES OF APHIDS, PART II
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THE SECRET LIVES OF APHIDS, PART II

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If you liked this article, The Secret Lives of Aphids, You might find this one interesting as a follow-up.  There is something about bugs...I don't know, maybe it is just the kid in me--poor mom, I was always bringing something home in a jar to keep in the bedroom. Ahh, the memories, like the time the six foot speckled king snake escaped his enclosure, never to be found. Enough of that...

I was out dinking around in the back yard today and noticed that the milk weed had a horrible infestation of orange aphids.
Normally, I would nuke them with some malathion but we have the milkweed to attract butterflies, particularly monarchs. Milkweed is their host plant so I could not use a pesticide. After I looked a little closer, I noticed that there was another infestation, midge larvae and they were making fast work of the aphids. No intervention needed.

Close Up of Midge Larvae

The photos aren't the best, it was windy and I was lazy and didn't get the tripod out, Hopefully I will get a chance to take some with the microscope at work this weekend, if there are any left. I will post if I do.