Aphids

Aphids
The seemingly never-ending hunt for the cure for aphids has lead to a new experiment, but first aphids.

According to the Wikipedia article on aphids there are over 4,000 different species. There are even native New Zealand aphids. There's tons of good words associated with aphids - look these up: parthenogenetic, ovoviviparous. Pretty nasty hu?

Of course any nasty insectaside will kill these beasts, but I don't want to do that. One of the reasons for growing vegies in the garden is to avoid toxins. The alternative "naturals" include Yates "Natures Way Insect Spray" which you have to keep applying every week. I don't want to do this either, for the same reason.

According to this article - planting flowering plants to attract the hover flies doesn't work.

Removing and insinerating plants is hardly control - so I'm not doing that. The other often cited control method is to rub then off by hand (no thanks).

Aphid Control
Take a look at the photo, I think these are grey cabbage aphids. Actually, they aren't grey they are green but covered with a grey waxy substance. Species Brevicoryne brassicae. Populations peak in October-December and March-April.

They are seen in the vegetable patch on brassicas including: cauliflower, brussel sprouts, and sweed. They no-doubt also attack: turnips, cabbage, broccoli and others in the family.

There's a natural parasitic wasp Diaeretiella rapae that lays it eggs in this beast and will keep aphid populations under control.

Aphidius colemani vs. Brevicoryne brassicae
The experiment is this: I can't find a supplier of Diaeretiella rapae, but BioForce Ltd. supplies Aphidius colemani, a tiny 2-3mm parasitic wasp that attacks several species of aphid (hopefully including mine). 100 wasps for 10 bucks. With some luck they'll attack my aphids and the problem will be a thing of the past. BioForce doesn't have a web presence. I ordered 100 wasps, they come as mummues (aphids with the lavae in it) and I've released then in half a dozen places in the garden a couple of days ago.