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LinkedInPosts Tagged: Oleander aphids
Will Milkweed Bugs Eat Aphids?
Yes, they will! Milkweed bugs gained the nickname of "seed eaters" for primarily eating the seeds of milkweed. Actually, they are opportunistic and generalists, says Hugh Dingle, emeritus professor of entomology at the University of California, Davis. They will eat monarch eggs and larvae...
Yes, milkweed bugs feed on oleander aphids. This is a large milkweed bug (Oncopeltus fasciatus) with an aphid. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Hey, I'm Eating as Fast as I Can!
Have you ever seen the larva of a lady beetle (aka ladybug) dining on an aphid? Lights! Camera! Action! So here is this charming little immature lady beetle chowing down on an oleander aphid that has the audacity to infest the milkweed in our pollinator garden. Chomp! Crunch! Slurp! And then...
An immature lady beetle (larvae) chowing down on an oleander aphid. This photo was taken on a milkweed plant in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A well-fed adult lady beetle (aka ladybug) ignores a fat Oleander aphid. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The Enemy of the Gardener
Aphids, don't you just hate them? Especially those oleander aphids that suck the very lifeblood out of our milkweed plants that we're struggling to save for monarch butterflies. Just call aphids "The Enemy of the Gardener" or "The Enemy of the Milkweed." The University of California Statewide...
Oleander aphids clustering on a milkweed stem. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Aphids magnified on a Leica DVM6 microscope, operated by Lynn Epstein, UC Davis emeritus professor of plant pathology.
Wash Their Mouths Out With Soap
We're not the only ones "celebrating" the first week of spring. The oleander aphids are doing a happy dance on our milkweed plants. We think they're doing a mixture of the tango, cha-cha-cha, salsa and merengue. Every time we walk past them, we see a population explosion with even more incredible...
Oleander aphids absolutely love tender milkweed plants. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Close-up of an army of aphids on milkweed. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
How Small Is Small?
Sometimes in a world of towering skyscrapers, jumbo jets and warehouses big enough to hold a small planet--or at least a state the size of Rhode Island--we don't realize how “small” small is. Last weekend it was a veritable insect feast on our narrowleafed milkweed. We saw...
A lady beetle, a monarch caterpillar and an infestation of oleander aphids. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
An oleander aphid on "the nose" of a monarch caterpillar. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
An oleander aphid on the back of a monarch caterpillar. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
An oleander aphid crawling on a tentacle of a monarch caterpillar. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
