Champion Daylilies
Aphids
Aphids are small, soft-bodied insects with long, slender mouth parts that they use to pierce stems, leaves, and other tender plant parts and suck out plant fluids. Almost every plant has one or more aphid species that occasionally feeds on it. Many aphid species are difficult to distinguish; however, identification to species is not necessary to control them in most situations.
Identification
Aphids may be green, yellow, brown, red, or black depending on the species and the plants they feed on. A few species appear waxy or woolly due to the secretion of a waxy white or gray substance over their body surface. All are small, pear-shaped insects with long legs and antennae. Most species have a pair of tube-like structures called cornicles projecting backwards out of the hind end of their bodies. The presence of cornicles distinguishes aphids from all other insects.
Generally adult aphids are wingless, but most species also occur in winged forms, especially when populations are high or during spring and fall. The ability to produce winged individuals provides the pest with a way to disperse to other plants when the quality of the food source deteriorates.
Although they may be found singly, aphids often feed in dense groups on leaves or stems. Unlike leafhoppers, plant bugs, and certain other insects that might be confused with them, most aphids do not move rapidly when disturbed.
Life Cycle
Aphids have many generations a year. Most aphids in mild climates reproduce asexually throughout most or all of the year with adult females giving birth to live offspring (often as many as 12 per day) without mating. Young aphids are called nymphs. They molt, shedding their skins about four times before becoming adults. There is no pupal stage. Some species mate and produce eggs in fall or winter, which provides them a more hardy stage to survive harsh weather. In some cases, these eggs are laid on an alternative host, usually a perennial plant, for winter survival. When the weather is warm, many species of aphids can develop from newborn nymph to reproducing adult in 7 to 8 days. Because each adult aphid can produce up to 80 offspring in a matter of a week, aphid populations can increase with great speed.
Aphids
Aphids
Aphids
Aphid Cass Skins