Tons of green little pests for just $3!

[JoeR]

Some time ago I bought a sad little one gallon cotoneaster for $3 from Lowe's (it had some leaf burn and was almost bone dry) and cut it back. After it sat very close to my other trees for a few weeks I discovered it has tiny green bugs all over it.


As you can see, there are a lot of them.


I need to know what they are and how to eradicate them from this tree and my other trees it may have infected!

 

[vaibatron]

Lookin like aphids brother...falls a coming so Hose the sh*t out of them before you entertain the heavy stuff..

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Aphids. Since they're always on the new growth, I usually squish them or just pinch off the growth they're on.

 

[aml1014]

I'd do as the others said and if that doesn't work try neem oil.

 

[sorce]

Hose squish repeat!

I been battling them on my INVASIVE.

I win.

Can't bring anything home without a good look!

Every time I stick my hand in one of these Florida junipers, I wonder what kind of bug Is gonna bite me. Maybe a little adder? Who knows!
That why they got those tags say they nuked em now. If it worked!

I also flick mine loose, but they fall 3 stories, if they were closer, I'd kill em.

My Dr. Earth peppermint and ass oil spray is effective too.

Good bugs show up quick to eat aphids so save them!

Sorce

 

[JoeR]

What kind of harm do they do?

I will hose it off and see.

 

[Dav4]

What kind of harm do they do?

I will hose it off and see.

They suck the sap from soft, new growth. In great enough numbers, aphids can slow or stop new growth entirely or kill off the new growth entirely, severely weakening badly infested trees. I agree with the others, though, that it's the end of the growing season, and hosing them off or drinking a beer while squishing them is preferable to breaking out the chemicals. Lady Bugs and their larvae love to eat them, by the way. Be ready for them next spring, though.

 

[0soyoung]

A little trivia about aphids:
It is known by xray microscopy that an aphid plugs into a phloem tube. Clever people managed to remove the aphid, leaving its stylet intact, collected the ooze that emerged from the stylet, and chemically analzyed it (actually this was done many times). These experiments directly confirmed that auxin is also in the water and photosynthate conducted down the tree, toward the roots, in the phloem.
Most of that yucky goo that makes your fingers sticky when squishing them is just sugar water.