Aphids on rose bush in December - Macrosiphum

Moved

Moved from Aphids.

… Charley Eiseman, 14 December, 2009 - 8:10pm

Update

The green eggs turned dark as of today, 12/4/09

… Beatriz Moisset, 4 December, 2009 - 12:56pm

i bet those black eggs are

parasitized! watch em..if the baby aphids are green the eggs should stay green. dont you think?

… Edna Woodward, 2 December, 2009 - 4:41pm

Not necessarily

Look at these.

… Beatriz Moisset, 2 December, 2009 - 7:44pm

Right

Aphid eggs are among the few eggs that are black when they're perfectly healthy. Neat to see the freshly laid green ones.

… Charley Eiseman, 3 December, 2009 - 2:40am

I Thought...

Aphids did the live birth thing?

… Scott Justis, 3 December, 2009 - 1:43pm

They do both

Aphids have very intricate life cycles. They reproduce parthenogenetically and have live births for a number of generations. Then they switch to winged adults and in some cases they produce both males and females that mate, lay eggs, etc. It is even more complicated than I am describing it here. Plus, some spend a number of generations on one host and then they move to an entirely different host.

… Beatriz Moisset, 3 December, 2009 - 1:48pm

Yes

I'm not aware of any aphids that lay eggs during the growing season, but I think the vast majority overwinter as eggs on woody vegetation. I read somewhere that aphid eggs are an important winter food source for chickadess, etc., so I think about that now when I see birds gleaning bark for morsels of food.

… Charley Eiseman, 3 December, 2009 - 4:21pm

Winter birds

I will be most grateful to chickadees and the like if they come and pick my rose bushes clean. They have to work hard for their food in winter. I wonder if bird feeders lead them to skip the aphid eggs with all sorts of unexpected consequences.
I didn't know about aphid eggs, but I knew that goldenrod gall flies are also a source of winter food for some birds.

… Beatriz Moisset, 3 December, 2009 - 4:34pm