Garden Pests and Diseases: Friend or Foe?, 1 by Night_Bloom

Night_Bloom wrote:
paani - I'm glad you like this thread. As for the black aphids that look like they have "eggs," that could be possible. They could be another type of parasite that leaves eggs inside. I would've probably guessed that the black ones had an insect disease, but another type of parasite is certainly possible too - even in my case, there is always something new to learn about insects.


I still have quite a few more types of predatory bugs (Hemiptera) to share with you, but for tonight's beneficial insect, I thought I'd give have something a little different. This little fly is actually a predator commonly called a long-legged fly. It's in the family Dolichopodidae. Both the larval and adult stage is predatory on small insects such as aphids and smaller flies. Sometimes many of these flies can congregate on plants, running up and down the leaves looking for insects, and so be mistaken for doing something suspicious ( I usually get a few samples of these a year from concerned homeowners). They can also congregate for mating where the males sometimes "dance" to attract the females. Most species are a metallic green, blue, or coppery color. They are small, usually less the 3/8 of an inch (9 mm).