#aphid mummy

[onenicebugperday]

I found this bug in my garden but I have no earthly idea what they might be, but they’re almost pearlescent which is fun (if they weren’t taking over my pepper plant 😠)

I skipped some other submissions to post this because I'm always delighted when people find them. These are aphid mummies, which are the dead husks of aphids that were parasitized by wasps. So there are wasps helping your plants out by controlling the aphid population! Thank you, wasps. I love you, wasps. RIP, aphids.

[mushiniwa]

[onenicebugperday]

@vaor-29​ submitted: inmates at the Baby Jail shortly before being exiled for Ate All The Milkweed crimes!

my family and i have been raising Monarchs for some years now, it's always really nice to see the little ecosystems that have been forming around them any time we have to check them up/relocate them! here's some more pictures of the other residents:

the ladybug larvae are a recent development, but very much welcome cause as much as i like their pretty yellow color, the aphids have been a little out of control recently and their honeydew keeps encouraging mold and bacteria growths on nearby plants... i'd appreciate any tips on discouraging them from overcrowding so much!

and a bonus update: two of the little rascals decided it was a good idea to pupate on the tupper right before i could relocate them, smh!!

Baby jail!!! That looks more like a baby buffet. Love that for them.

I don’t think there are many control methods for the aphids that wouldn’t affect everything else living on the plant except physically wiping them off yourself and avoiding caterpillars and ladybug larvae. I just used my hand to remove aphids from my milkweed. But it’s great you have the ladybug larvae and the mealybug destroyers! They love to gobble up pests. I also see a whole lot of aphid mummies (the very round, brown aphids), which means you’ve got parasitic wasps preying on them. Hope those two criminals who pupated on the lid successfully emerged :)

[mushiniwa]

[mushiniwa]

[mushiniwa]

[mushiniwa]

[onenicebugperday]

@lumindara submitted: So I have a bunch of aphids chomping on my garden plants, but I'm wondering if they're perhaps not ALL aphids.... Are those larger, tan guys aphids or are they perhaps on the hunt? The second photo, on my kale looks like a battle may have taken place.

Also on my kale, I found these two little guys wrapped gently in silk. Considering their location, I'm wondering if they're cabbage butterfly?

I'm submitting all this to you from NW Oregon.

Bonus! No ID needed here, just a bug party happening in a squash blossom.

Bug party!!! Love that, wish I could join. As for the big fat round tan dudes amongst the aphids, those are aphid mummies - aphids that have been parasitized by wasps. The female wasp will deposit an egg into the live aphid. It then hatches, and the larva eats the aphid from the inside. It eventually pupates inside the dead aphid, and the outer skin bloats and dries out into the aphid mummy. At some point the adult wasp emerges from a perfectly round hole!

As for the caterpillar in its cocoon, cabbage butterflies form chrysalides, so that's likely a moth. Looks like a cabbage looper to me!