NH 027
Aphid
Category: True Bugs
Family: Aphididae
So, apologies for not having the new photo system up for this picture and for neglecting to post anything up in awhile. The former is because over time the insect has lost its green coloring and is now more black than it was after first being captured. This guy is actually a bug (as not all insects are bugs but all bugs are insects), and I don't actually know where it came from. Cornell University's Entomology department every year throws Insectapalooza and they happened to have an aphid exhibit. This particular guy was one of the hundreds that they have that managed to escape the net and I subsequently caught it. So I don't know if it was a local species or came from somewhere else for study here, but probably the former.
Aphids, while they cannot jump and don't always have wings, and despite their small size are known to be quite a pest. This is because the are known to carry hundreds of different plant viruses and even though they move slowly they can cause plants to become sick. They are also known for secreting a substance called honeydew (not the fruit), which contains the excess sugars that the aphid cannot use. A variety of other animals use this substance, especially some ants and bees, to eat. Some ants will even 'milk' the honeydew from the aphids in a symbiotic relationship.
Collected: Comstock Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York. October 23, 2010.
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| As the aphid appears today, with scale. |
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