Last Tuesday, on my way home from exploring a local park, I stopped to investigate the leaves of a Lime tree (Tilia species, not sure which one) as I’ve never really found anything of much interest on Limes. Well, that soon changed because the undersides of these leaves were awash with aphids, unsurprisingly Lime aphids (Eucallipterus tiliae), a species I’d never seen before.

And when I checked on the Welsh biodiversity database later in the day, I was surprised to find only five previous Welsh records. As is the way with many small creatures though, I now believe these aphids are under-recorded as the following day, walking in the opposite direction, I found two more colonies. It seems more people need to become leaf-turners and leaf-botherers so we can get a clearer, more accurate picture of our insect populations.

If you’re interested in learning more about these aphids and their life cycle, the Influential Points website has an excellent page, with very clear images though slightly technical scientific information.