Black aphids specifically feed on beans, beets, celery, and potatoes. They can be very annoying so getting rid of them is necessary if you want your plants safe. One way to control aphids is predators, so what eats black aphids?
Aphids, including black aphids, have many predators; these include lacewing larvae, predatory midges, wasps, ladybirds, hoverfly larvae, and rove beetles.
Aphids are a nightmare for garden plants as they suck a plant’s sap until it dies and eats all the young buds, making it unable to grow more.
They attach themselves to tender shoots, fruits, buds, and non-woody parts of the stems and suck the sap and nutrients from the plant.
The black aphid can also cause plant diseases, such as the Bean Common Mosaic Virus and other diseases. An aphid infestation can cause plant leaves to wilt, curl and eventually die.
There are several ways you can make your garden plants aphid-free. Some methods are chemical-based, involving insecticides to kill aphids.
A better option to get rid of your black aphid infestation is using a natural method, such as using predators feeding on aphids to fix your aphid problem.
Many animals feed on aphids, such as predatory midges, lacewing larvae, ladybirds, wasps, rove beetles, damsel beetles, soldier beetles, and hoverfly larvae.
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Do Birds Eat Black Aphids?
You’ve often seen birds eating varying types of bugs, so you’ve probably thought if the birds will also take care of your aphid situation. The answer is yes, as birds eat many bugs, including aphids.
Birds such as the passer montanus and Eurasian tree sparrow love eating aphids. Other birds known to also feed on aphids are magpies, house sparrows, and warblers.
You can attract birds to your garden, so they’ll help you get rid of the aphids by making your garden inviting to them.
How Do You Attract Birds?
You can attract birds to your garden by placing certain items and doing certain things to make your garden inviting to birds.
Items such as a bird bath are ideal. Birds need water, and they also love to play around in the water. You will attract many birds by placing a bird bath in your garden.
With a bird bath in the middle of your garden, birds will fly down to eat aphids and fly back up to sip water.
Also, place rocks, perches, and branches on the bird bath to give the birds a good place to land.
Another thing you can place in your garden is a birdhouse. With a birdhouse, you will give birds a nesting place, and as they’ll be living there, they will need food; as the birdhouse will be in your garden, they’ll look for food in it and eat the aphids upon finding them.
Birds love feeding aphids to their babies.
Other things you can do to attract birds is by placing trees, shrubs, and other places for the birds to land on, such as chairs and wheelbarrows. If you have a cat or dog, keep them indoors, so the birds don’t scare them off.
Do Ants Eat Black Aphids?
No type of ant is known to eat any type of aphid, including black ones. Ants use aphids for farming their honeydew instead of eating or killing aphids.
Honeydew is a substance secreted by aphids when they feed on the sap of plants.
Honeydew is sticky and is a favourite food for ants. Ants milk aphids by stroking their abdomens, so they secret honeydew. This is a symbiotic relationship between the two bugs.
Their symbiotic relationship helps both of them as aphids get protection from the ants and the ants get food.
Do Ladybirds Eat Black Aphids?
Ladybirds, or lady beetles, are the most common predators of aphids. They love eating all types of aphids, including black aphids.
If you have an aphid infestation and they’re black aphids, ladybirds will be your pest exterminators and will solve your aphid problem.
These beautiful vibrant coloured insects are easy to spot, and both their larval and adult forms love feasting on aphids.
How Do You Attract Ladybirds?
You can also get ladybirds from garden supply stores or naturally attract them by planting certain plants in your garden that attract ladybirds.
Plants such as Angelica, Butterfly Weed, Calendula, Caraway, Chives, and Cilantro are some of the plants that attract ladybirds.
If you’re purchasing ladybirds, ensure you only let them out in your aphid-infested plants. Ladybirds will eat aphids at night and fly away during the day.
FAQs
Below are some further FAQs about what eats black aphids that you may find useful to read:
Do Ladybirds Eat Green Aphids?
Yes, ladybirds will eat any form of aphids in any colour. Ladybirds are one of the most prolific aphid predators.
Do Lacewings Eat Black Aphids?
Adult lacewings do not eat black aphids. They feed on nectar and pollen. However, lacewing larvae will eat black aphids. They have been nicknamed Aphid Lions.
Ryan is a keen gardener from the UK who’s spent years dealing with countless, common pests over the years so knows the ins and outs of how to deal with pests in the garden
