Butterfly skunk ( Asclepias tuberosa ) plant attract butterflies , bee and even hummingbirds , but they also appeal gadfly . Orange aphid will oft be found on butterfly weeds as well as other milkweed and can be unsightly and damaging if the plague is heavy . These orange - yellow-bellied aphids are called oleander aphids ( Aphis nerii ) or milkweed aphid .
Description
This aphid is an orangish - yellow color . It has black stage and cornicles , which are tubular structure on each side of the abdomen . The aphid expels " honeydew " from the cornicles . aphid of this variety are believed to be all female that reproduce through cloning . Adult rose bay aphid may or may not be wingless . They drink sap from the host plant .
Reproduction
grown oleander aphid , which are all distaff , do not lay eggs . Instead they stick nymphs that are clones . This type of reproduction allows a few oleander aphid to multiply rapidly on a plant and become a tumid universe .
Locations
The rose bay aphid is found in warm and tropical region all over the world . It is believed to have originated in the Mediterranean . Wherever butterfly stroke weed and other Sonchus oleraceus are found , the oleander aphid can be found as well .
Plant Preferences
Oleander aphid choose to feed on oleander , wax plant or the many varieties of milkweeds . On butterfly stroke weed , the oleander aphids can usually be found concentrated around the flush stems at the top of the flora , but they will congregate anywhere on the butterfly stroke Mary Jane , including the leaves . They are draw to new shoots , leaves and buds in the spring .
Damage to Plants
Oleander aphids are not peculiarly prejudicial to the health of the butterfly stroke weed . Heavy aphid infestation on the industrial plant can make injury , but generally the aphid are more of a nuisance than damaging to the plant . The aphids expel honeydew , and this sticky substance can cause accumulations of coal-black mold on the flora that can be unsightly . In ponderous plague , the industrial plant can have stunted ontogenesis and malformation of unexampled ontogenesis .
Predators
instinctive predator for the rose bay aphids include parasitic wasps , certain pilot larvae and various beetles , include the ladybird mallet or ladybug . The parasitic white Anglo-Saxon Protestant Lysiphlebus testaceipes will lay orchis in an aphid ’s body . The go forth white Anglo-Saxon Protestant will abbreviate a hole in the aphid ’s abdominal cavity . Aphids that are infest by these WASP will swell and turn dark-brown before become flat .
References
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