Our local aphid mobs.
The top photo is yellow sugar cane aphid, Sipha flava, on a leaf of broom corn, Sorghum vulgare. The large individual in the middle of each group is the mother, surrounded by live-born offspring produced parthenogenically (without mating). These aphids were first noticed on the broom corn around mid-July and are still actively feeding and reproducing here. The population has not built up to damaging levels, being limited to a few colonies on a few leaves on each plant.
The second photo is aphis nerii, our old friend the oleander aphid. These are hanging under a milkweed leaf while a nearby assassin bug keeps watch up top for other prey. The population of aphis nerii on the asclepias started late summer and has now reached the Ick stage where leaves are coated with adults and nymphs, sheds, honeydew droppings and everything that sticks to that.
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