We always get these yellow oleander aphids on our Monarch caterpillar host milkweed plant. They are beautiful and match the beautiful colors of the flowers.
And they move. Together. In sync. Isn't that odd? What do you think they're doing? Watch it here on this video:
Why? Why do you think they move like that? How do they know to move? Is it triggered by one aphid? Or is it timed?
It's curious for a tiny little insect isn't it?
A friend found this article which explains it all. They believe it's a collective defense by the aphids to ward off a parasitic wasp that lays it's larvae in the aphid's body.
I came across aphid carcasses that were victims of this horrible process back in 2013 in our garden on our tomatillo plant. I'm not sure what aphids these originally were, but in the end they looked like this:
So much for those beautiful aphids. Why do you think they swell to such a round shape?
Amazing and dramatic lives they live right under our noses and hardly noticed.
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