unidentified aphids

[Bruce Williams]

Stony Stratford Nature Reserve, 9th May,

Two quite different looking "types". I presume they are the same species?

Any idea what the dark grey pseudo-wings are on the powdery grey coloured ones?

All help appreciated.

Bruce

[Lance Morgan]

Look like earlier stage of greenfly with vestigial wing cases - same species different growth stage. Nice picture by the way.

[Paul mabbott]

I think they're what they seem to be - wing buds. The smaller ones are immature alate nymphs while the larger aphids are mature apters! Clear?

Thought not.

All aphids (like all other bugs) go through several instars with the nymphs growing as larger versions of the earlier stage until the final change when they develop wings and genitalia. [If they are winged species; if not they just get gonads.] You need to add this on to the fact that many aphid species exist in winged (alate) and wingless (apterous) forms/stages. Wings are not generally useful to aphids except at two times of year: when they have finished breeding/feeding and are going in search of winter shelter (in summer or autumn) and, obviously, when they need to search for feeding places in Spring. So alate individuals are only produced twice a year for these migrations.

So what you are seeing with the 'pseudo-wings' is a young generation of alates which will be flying off to pastures new when they reach 'adulthood'.

Originally Posted by Bruce Williams

Any idea what the dark grey pseudo-wings are on the powdery grey coloured ones?

All help appreciated.

Bruce

[Bruce Williams]

Lance - Thanks for help with the identification.

Paul - Thanks for the information on aphid biology - very ineresting.

I have just noticed that there is an egg at the tail end of the upsidedown individual on the left. Is that an aphid egg? I thought I'd read somewhere that they were live bearers - am I wrong?

Bruce

[Action_Man]

Regarding that "egg", i watched a Hoverfly laying eggs near every aphid it could find the other day, so maybe its a Hoverfly egg ? ...

[Bruce Williams]

Interesting observation Action_Man - I wonder what the association is - aphids are food for developing hoverfly grub maybe.

Nice pic showing fine surface detail on the egg.

Bruce