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Ants are often observed with aphids, small insects that feed on plants. The ants obtain nutritious nectar from the aphids. A biologist wants to test whether ants and aphids are mutualists. She removes ants from groups of aphids and compares them to controls.
The Woolly Beech Aphid overwinters as eggs that are found around bark crevices and leaf buds. These hatch in spring after the leaves have emerged and develop into pale yellow aphids that begin feeding on the underside of the foliage, covering themselves with white, waxy cotton-like filaments which can get quite thick as the aphids molt.
There is a disease transmitted by aphids to certain fruit trees such as peaches, plums, and apricots that causes fruit to appear blotchy, necrotic rings on the leaves, and dark stripes on the flower petals.
Insects from the families Aphidiinae (not to be confused with the aphid subfamily Aphidinae) and Aphelinus are parasites that specialize on aphids. Both of these groups inject an egg into the body of an aphid. The egg then hatches and the larva feeds upon the aphid's body from the inside out.
Insects that attack aphids include the adults and larvae of predatory ladybirds, hoverfly larvae, parasitic wasps, aphid midge larvae, "aphid lions" (the larvae of green lacewings), and arachnids such as spiders.
Minute pirate bugs (Anthocoridae) – the tiny, distinctively patterned black and white adults and the pinkish-yellow to light brown nymphs and adults are very active and will feed on small aphids. Parasitic wasps (Braconidae, Aphelinidae) – most of these wasps have similar developmental processes.
Beneficial insects, such as ladybugs, lacewings, damsel bugs, or hoverflies, feed on aphids. Attract these insects to your garden by providing a welcoming environment, including access to water and a range of flowering and other plants.
