When I saw several of these tiny things on my tomato plants I started to panic. What was this and what was it going to do to my tomatoes? I wanted to start smushing right away, but I decided to take a deep breath and try a little research first.
It turns out it’s an aphid harboring a beneficial–the larva of the parasitic wasp, or aphid parasite wasp. Aphid parasite!! The whitish color and bloated shape is the giveaway.
What happens is the female wasp (a tiny black wasp), injects a single egg into the body of an aphid. The wasp larva feeds on the body of the aphid, killing it, of course, and emerges from the munched-out shell of the aphid.
Here’s an amazing video of this creepy/awesome phenomenon:
The wasps are even sold for this purpose, like ladybugs.
These wasps are sensitive to pesticides, in some cases even more so than aphids, so here’s another case for organic pest control.
T.L.
{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
Yayyy you made it back! I have never had a problem with aphids in my veggie garden… they don’t last long enough. Early spring there is always an outbreak of them all over my iris. I hose them off with strong water sprays… and within days there is a major reduction and then none at all…. and then ladybugs emerge by the hundreds. I plant dozens of marigolds among everything else in the veggie garden. So far this year my squash are getting huge and not one squash bug. Usually they would be a problem by now. Every morning I pull a few wilted flowers off and shred them among the center of the squash plant and all over the leaves. I just started doing that this year. In the past it seemed no matter what I did, there were squash bugs and once they get started they are so hard to get rid of.
Yes, finally!
Tell me more about the shredded flowers–does this seem to keep the squash bugs away? I’ll do almost anything if it keeps those things off.
Love, love, love the new format of your blog! It’s beautiful! And very user-friendly!
My tomatoes don’t seem to be too happy yet. I am only growing 2 grape tomatoes in containers on the back porch. I’m hoping to foil the squirrels this year – they ate all of my tomatoes and sunflowers last year. Grrr… I’m going to try the tomato food recipe this weekend and replace the fish emulsion with tadpole poop. Since I only have the 2 plants, I will greatly reduce the recipe. Wish me luck! (Any bees yet?)
Thanks, ladies!
Yuck! I think it’s going to take a while for me to get used to the whole “bug thing” that goes along with gardening…ahem.
This is about as graphic as it gets.
Except, of course, squishing giant tomato hornworms . . .
Thanks, Nancy! We like to keep tweaking things!
It’s early yet, your tomatoes will probably start taking off soon. I would not be happy with those squirrels, either. Our battle is with birds in the berries, so I understand your pain.
No bees yet. I keep hoping, though.
Thanks T.L., that’s really gross and educational, like a mini version of Aliens happening on your tomato plants. I think I’d prefer to just have them eaten by a lady bug, in retrospect it seems like the nicer thing to do.
Yes, the ladybugs just seem more . . . lady-like.
Ew, I thought about that too much.
Are yellow ladybugs just as beneficial, or only the red ones? I saw a yellow one in the (first) yellow-orange blossom on a zuchhini plant today. I didn’t know if I should’ve shoo’d it away.
Beneficial ladybugs can be yellow. To be on the safe side, take a look at this and make sure it’s not a Mexican bean beetle:
http://wiki.bugwood.org/Mexican_bean_beetle
Oh dearie me…
Now you have me thinking. Tell me, dear ladies, do these magical black wasps interfere with a) honeybees or b) my skin in any stinging unpleasant sort of way? If so I would prefer ladybugs. If not, this is sick, and also (therefore?) awesome.
Not that you have to answer anytime soon. I currently live in a condo and so my bee-hive, like my garden, currently resides only in that delightful place I call Imaginary Land. Along with my Jersey cows, my heritage breed piglets, my raspberry brambles, my walnut trees, my summer kitchen, my Easter egg hens, Prince Harry, and our six (count ‘em, imaginarily! Six!) children.
I don’t believe they have a problem coexisting with honeybees. They aren’t aggressive and apparently will only sting if you’re manhandling them. Not likely, hunh? And they are tiny, too.
I like your imaginary farm. May I come and visit?
TL, you’re welcome to come to my imaginary farm anytime. It’s beautiful here.
The great aphid invasion destroyed all my seedlings (in my basement, no less!), but we’re doing great with store-bought (darn it!). Any tips on how to prevent said invasion next spring?
That wasn’t fair. They do enough damage outside, they should respect the indoor boundary. Any idea how they got in? Wow, I don’t know what to say, other than to be vigilant and wash the suckers off at the first sign of them. Anyone else out there solve this problem?
Hmm, now I AM confused. The Mexican Bean Beetle looks an awful lot like a ladybug. I have a picture of our little bug (saw more today so grabbed the camera) but I don’t think we can post pictures here anymore.
I’ve seen those tiny little wasps around our backyard. I thought they were just baby wasps that would get bigger, but by the sounds of it, thats as big as they’ll get. Kinda cute!
It does resemble. Not really fair to the gardener.
I don’t know about the photos–I’m still getting used to our new host.
I heard somewhere that aside from larval forms of insects, once an insect is it’s adult form that’s as big as it ever gets. But I need to look that up to be sure.