Fight And Prevent Aphids With Predatory, Beneficial Aphid Midges
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Aphidoletes larvae are voracious native predators of over 60 species of aphids. Larvae are orange, legless maggots, up to 3 mm (1/16 inch) long. Adults are small, delicate midges (flies) 2-3 mm (1/16 inch) long, with long legs. The males have long antennae, which are covered with hairs. The females have shorter and thicker antennas. The eggs are very small and orange colored. Adults are rarely seen, as they are mostly active in the evening.
Aphidoletes are used to control aphids indoors in commercial greenhouses and interior plantscapes as well as outdoors in orchards, shade trees, roses and home gardens. Optimum conditions are 21°-25°C (70°-77°F) and high relative humidity (over 70%), particularly for the pupal stage, which must not dry out.
If aphids are present in outdoor plants in late summer, a release of Aphidoletes at this time helps reduce the overwintering aphid population, while establishing an overwintering predator population that will be active early the following spring.
Aphidoletes are sent as pupae (cocoons) in moist vermiculite or sand. The predators may be released in either of two ways:
Release Rates:
Monitoring Tips:
Life Cycle:
A complete life cycle takes 21 days at 21°C (70 °F). Development rate depends on temperature and availability of prey. Sex ratio in populations vary, but there are usually somewhat more females (60% females). Female midges lay their eggs on leaves beside aphids. Each female lays 150-200 eggs during her lifespan of 1-2 weeks. The eggs are shiny orange ovals, less than 0.3 mm (1/50 inch) long.
At 21°C, eggs hatch in 2-3 days and the tiny, legless larvae crawl along the leaf in search of aphids. Larvae feed by biting aphids and paralyzing them with a toxin before sucking out the aphid body fluids. They feed for 7-10 days and can kill 3-50 aphids per day. Where aphid populations are high, larvae kill many more aphids than they can consume.
To pupate, larvae drop to the ground and burrow into the top 1-2 cm (1/2 inch) of soil or organic material to spin a cocoon. Adults emerge in 2-3 weeks. Outdoors, the last generation of Aphidoletes in the fall overwinters in the cocoons in the soil. They are very hardy and survive outside throughout the cold/warm growing regions.
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