I just found out...brace yourself...that my beloved "Fairy Fly", is, in actuality...
An Aphid.
A stinking, flying woolly aphid. An actual PEST...
An aphid! My sworn enemy, second only to slugs as a destructive force in my garden - "farmed" by ants, aphids suck the very life essence from my plants.
I wrote to the "What is this pest" photo identification page (I'm #1467), where specialist volunteers and others identify photos of bugs people send in. Their mega-contributor, retired
entomologist Ed Saugstad, id'd this bug for me. (The site is really awesome, by the way - people from all over send in pics of pests and bugs and such they see around, but don't know what they are).
But now that I know...can I live with it?
I think I'll still call them "fairy flies"...
*sigh*
The Family
2 comments:
Oh, but don't worry! These particular aphids do not permanently harm thier host trees. Therefore you can enjoy them without thinking about how thier cousins are so destructive. These cute flying blue fuzz puffs are not a hugh pest!
I'm glad, because I think they are enchanting!
Oh thank goodness! I'm so glad to hear they don't cause permanent damage - I do love them so! They're so sweet! (If an aphid can be sweet, which I think in this case, it can!) :)
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