In the same area where I recently found colonies of Chaitophorus populeti aphids on Poplar, there is a small stand of Aspen trees. By turning over a few of their leaves, I easily found another aphid species, a cousin of those I had found on the Poplar trees, this one most common on Aspen (Populus tremula) though sometimes also found on Poplar.
This is Chaitophorus tremulae, a species that was first recorded in Wales in 2009, according to the Influential Points website. As you can see in the image above, these aphids are tiny, and I found various stages living together. If I’ve understood correctly (I find aphid life cycles very confusing!), the larger blackish specimens are apterae (wingless adults); the pale aphids with darker, triangular markings on their bodies are sexuales (sexual forms; males, and females that lay eggs rather than live young); and there are also lots of nymphs, the smallest pale specimens.
Interestingly, the Influential Points web entry says that the honeydew produced by these aphids is not very attractive to ants as it contains a lower amount of the sugar melizitose than other honeydews. As one of my images shows, there were ants on the Aspen leaves but they weren’t as focused on the aphids, and weren’t exhibiting the behaviour I’ve noticed in other ants, where they appear to stand over, even protect ‘their’ aphids and try to ‘persuade’ me to remove my fingers from the leaves, even crawling over my hands, though not biting.
This is the Thick-legged hoverfly, Syritta pipiens, and I think you can see how it got that common name. It looks like it’s been spending a lot of time at the gym.
