About Target and Damage Control Links
About Aphids
Aphids are small, slow-moving and soft-bodied insects. They usually exist in clusters of hundreds and are often easy prey for enemies. They manage to prosper in the garden because of incredible reproduction.
There are numerous species of aphid with a wide range of colors. They are generally wingless.
The Aphis lifecycle is fascinating. They reproduce without mating for most of the year and produce live young that also reproduce within a week or so after birth. Some aphid species even give birth to pregnant young.
Pest Target and Damage
Aphids prefer new growth, but attack any soft plant tissue especially of woody plants.
Using two tubes called cornicles, aphids suck the juices from tender growth causing wilting and/or malformation. Honeydew - the plant sap that aphids do not digest but rather simply excrete - attracts ants and fosters the plant disease sooty mold. Some aphids are able to transmit viruses.
Control
Controlling aphids is really a matter of perseverence. Handpicking, pruning affected plants, jets of water, aluminum foil mulching, green lacewings, ladybord beetles, parasitic wasps and aphid midges are all effective combatants against these prolific insects.
Garden-Helper.com does not offer suggestions about chemical control methods, but they do exist.
Links
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