It is still National Pollinator Week in the USA, and I hope they are having a good one. Here in Vancouver, it is rainy and cold. But that is no reason not to engage in some pollinator photography! A couple weeks ago, I found a syrphid larva among the blackberry leaves we feed our stick insects.
I ended up keeping it in the cage, feeding it with bunches of aphids.
The larva disappeared after a day of eating so well, so I presumed it had dropped to the soil to pupate. Sure enough, today we found him buzzing around the cage. I took the opportunity for some pictures, then sent him out (in a protected location) after a meal of honey.
I could definitely use a few of those larvae on my balcony. Though, so far the aphids are concentrating exclusively on weed plants that I don’t care too much about. Still, maybe they would also go after that white insect, half the size of an aphid and slower that is mostly flat and segmented, that forms white molds of some sort, on my favorite plant.
Wow, great pictures and post!
Thanks!
Evgeniiy, sounds like you have scale insects. You could try spraying them with soapy water.
Nice shots, Sean! I must try more bug rearing – it’s nice to work with fresh,clean bugs.
Thanks Adrian! This one was a bit of an accident, but I may try some more considering how well this worked.
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