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.
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.
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.