Imagine a world with no men, only women. That’s right, a world full of grandmas, moms, and granddaughters with nothing to do all day but sip sweet drinks, share bug stories, and hang out with one another. Right now on dozens of plants in your garden such as roses, apples, pansies, mums, it’s all about the ladies. For many species of aphids such as the ones on our roses, this peculiar story began last autumn. After a brief encounter with a willing suitor, a male rose aphid, lady aphids laid eggs on the stems of roses to withstand the rigors of the winter. Several weeks ago, as temperatures warmed and new growth appeared, these eggs hatched into tiny immature stages called nymphs. Like their mothers, these nymph inserted stout beaks into the vascular system of the plant. Within the beak is a tube that connects to a pump in the head of the aphid. The aphid uses this miniature vacuum system to remove plant sap containing nutrients needed for growth and development. Large volumes of plant sap are processed to obtain nutrients. The residue of this extraction process is excreted by the aphid as the sweet sticky liquid called honeydew. Nymphs molt several times before reaching maturity. One remarkable attribute of the aphids on our roses and chrysanthemums in the spring is their gender. They are all females. Even more astounding is the fact that these aphids reproduce without mating. This remarkable form of reproduction without males is known as parthenogenesis and is common in aphids and several other types of insects. If casting off the yoke of men were not enough, these gals have gone one better in the game of reproduction. Most insects lay eggs. From these hatch tiny nymphs or larvae. Aphids are in a hurry. During the rush of spring, most species of aphids dispense with the egg stage and, like humans, give live birth to their babes. This blessed event takes only a few minutes and appears to be fraught with significant drama. Birthing aphids do lots of posturing and pushing. Fortunately, aphids have sucking mouthparts and the loud vocalizations that accompany human births are conspicuously absent. Perhaps, this is the silence of the aphids. To further accelerate the process of filling the world with their kind, female aphids carry the embryos of their own grandchildren within their bodies even before they are born. This greatly compresses the generation time for aphids and is part of the reason aphid populations grow from a few to thousands, seemingly overnight. Some females never develop wings but remain in place producing hundreds of young during their life. Others develop wings and escape to less crowded plants as populations increase and living conditions deteriorate due to over population. Crowding is not the only problem in this Amazonian utopia. The halcyon days in the realm of lady aphids are short lived. There is danger afoot. Next week’s bug of the week will explore murder and mayhem in the world of the aphid.

For more information on the biology and control of aphids, please visit the following web sites.

Bug of the Week Archive