Bugs bugging my vines!

July 3, 2005 12:50 PM

So what are these bugs on my plants?

I just got back from a BizTrip to Amsterdam, and upon stepping out in the garden was greeted by these small black insects on my vines. There are lots of them, and they weren't there when I left Wednesday morning.





There always seems to be a few ants close by. Are these Aphids? I thought Aphids were green but is this some European variety? And are these things benign?

I planted these vines to shield me from the inquisitive old ladies that inhabit my estate and shall have to socialise should the plants wither and die. Help!

posted by Mutant to Home & Garden (13 answers total)

Response by poster: Whoops! Forgot that I should mention that I live in London.
posted by Mutant at 12:54 PM on July 3, 2005

Best answer: Aphids. The ants protect the aphids in exchange for their excreted "honeydew". You can hose them off, or snip the offending branches if there aren't too many. Even if you don't get them all, it will disrupt the ants enough that natural predators, like wasps, ladybugs, and lacewings will take over. If you must spray, try soap.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 1:26 PM on July 3, 2005

Should you ask the old ladies? Perhaps they infested your shrubbery in an attempt to force socializing.
posted by Cranberry at 2:06 PM on July 3, 2005

I asked my mom about this. She's a garden super-nerd.

She says aphids come in different colors and black aphids do exist. Spraying them off (like, spray them with water hard enough that it physically knocks them off of the plant) with soapy water will usually do the trick, but Neem oil is an organic miteicide/fungicide/insecticide that's safe to use on plants and should get rid of them.

Let me know if you need more details.
posted by katieinshoes at 2:24 PM on July 3, 2005

Nice Rolex!
posted by rolypolyman at 2:59 PM on July 3, 2005

The trouble with insecticide is that it usually kills the predatory insects, and you're into a vicious cycle. If you feed the predators a few drowned aphids, they will take care of your other plants/pests as well. If you hose them off, do the fence and/or base of the vine to get rid of the scent trail the ants follow.

Those black pointy nematodes on your wrist may require heavy artillery.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 3:10 PM on July 3, 2005

I've had really good luck knocking them off roses with a stream of plain water from the hose. I didn't have the right kind of toxic-waste-in-a-can in the house, so I figured I'd try it until I could buy some, and it worked so well I never bothered.
It's good for the environment, non-toxic, and free. Give it a shot first, you can always escalate the war in a day or so if you have to.
posted by unrepentanthippie at 6:49 PM on July 3, 2005

if the problem persists, you can order lady budys or praying mantises through the mail (at least here in the states). millions of identical praying mantis babies are super cute.

also, at first i read the title as "pants". was epecting a different kind of question :o
posted by Tryptophan-5ht at 8:06 PM on July 3, 2005

Pity I can't send you some African preying manti, they are big and beautiful.
posted by Goofyy at 10:02 PM on July 3, 2005

Those are totally aphids. They've got 1,000 disguises, and that's one of them.

In my experience, best thing to do is to crush them all with your fingers. Something about the bug juice keeps subsequent infestations away.
posted by mudpuppie at 10:52 PM on July 3, 2005

I had the exact same thing on my sunflowers last week. I tried pesticides (chrysanthemum spray), but you know what worked best of all? For 20 bucks, I bought 1500 ladybugs on the internet; they came two days later, we released them a little after sunset into a wet garden so they wouldn't fly off, and they ate the HOLY HELL out of the aphids. It's amazing. I saw some UK sites that sold ladybugs as well, it's absolutely worth it.

Plus, they're adorable!
posted by RJ Reynolds at 6:04 AM on July 4, 2005

Plus, they're adorable!

Not when they swarm. Every fall, my city gets horrid ladybug infestations. They form giant clouds and carry away dogs.
posted by drezdn at 7:43 AM on July 4, 2005

Now you're getting carried away.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 2:14 PM on July 4, 2005