They’re out– wherever we walk we’re swatting away the clouds of gnats that hover together in swarms. What they are — aphids: smoky-winged ash aphids or also called blue ash aphids. Yesterday, a few. Today, thousands and thousands.
Do see the white dots in the picture? That’s not my camera– those are thousands of aphids.
The females live in conifer trees all summer long, but in autumn their moving out to lay eggs in ash trees. These little flying bugs may already have died– their eggs will survive the winter, but they will not.
About smoky-winged ash aphids– the eggs are eaten by chickadees, nuthatches, woodpeckers and other bark-pecking birds, but the “fuzzy-looking” aphids are less inviting. The good news is they do not live long.
Yes, the nightmare of aphids will probably be gone around Halloween!
Resources:
- Washington State University: Nightmare on Aphid Street
- KREM: white bugs return
- Smokey Winged Ash Aphids
- Swarms of Insects are Wooly
They’re Back
After summer conifer feasting days
Sheri Edwards
Floating in the air in clouds of the same
Flying to ash trees for eggs to lay
Smokey-winged ash aphids will not stay
Will not harm, and will soon die away.
10.08.22 283.365.22
Poetry/Photography
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