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- Jan 5, 2017
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I've been growing milkweed plants, including native species, for years so the monarchs have a host plant. All types of milkweeds seem to be super attractive to little yellow aphids; some of the plants get hammered by huge populations, while others seem not so badly affected.
In the interest of biodiversity, I don't use any x-icides, nor do I attempt to wash off the aphids, if the plant can't survive, it dies, that's nature's way. And it seems to work, because the milkweed plants are pretty good at reseeding themselves.
From time to time I will see the larva form of ladybugs on the plants, but I knew there had to be other predators attracted to the aphids and I've read many articles about how many bugs lay eggs on the milkweed plants, because of aphids, but never seen any, not that I really looked hard for them.
The other day I knocked off a yellow dying leaf from a milkweed and checked it to make sure there wasn't a caterpillar on it, but I saw something squirming around, it was only about 2mm long and 1mm wide, so tough to see against the yellow leaf. I saved it in a plastic container, throwing in a few other green leaves, thinking it was eating the leaves.
However, this morning I noticed not one bite mark in the leaves and this thing was squirming around like it wanted out....then I remembered...aphids, maybe this thing is one of those organisms that eat aphids, so I go grab a leaf with aphids, checked back in half an hour and sure enough, it's eating the aphids.
I just looked it up on the internet and this is what I think I got, it looks just like it especially the apparent transparent body in the front and rear ends.
Apparently it's the larvae of the hoverfly (syrphid fly)
In the interest of biodiversity, I don't use any x-icides, nor do I attempt to wash off the aphids, if the plant can't survive, it dies, that's nature's way. And it seems to work, because the milkweed plants are pretty good at reseeding themselves.
From time to time I will see the larva form of ladybugs on the plants, but I knew there had to be other predators attracted to the aphids and I've read many articles about how many bugs lay eggs on the milkweed plants, because of aphids, but never seen any, not that I really looked hard for them.
The other day I knocked off a yellow dying leaf from a milkweed and checked it to make sure there wasn't a caterpillar on it, but I saw something squirming around, it was only about 2mm long and 1mm wide, so tough to see against the yellow leaf. I saved it in a plastic container, throwing in a few other green leaves, thinking it was eating the leaves.
However, this morning I noticed not one bite mark in the leaves and this thing was squirming around like it wanted out....then I remembered...aphids, maybe this thing is one of those organisms that eat aphids, so I go grab a leaf with aphids, checked back in half an hour and sure enough, it's eating the aphids.
I just looked it up on the internet and this is what I think I got, it looks just like it especially the apparent transparent body in the front and rear ends.
Apparently it's the larvae of the hoverfly (syrphid fly)
