A photo of a green plant stem covered in a mass of black aphids, America regwort aphids, being tended by tan brown Australian ants, in New Zealand.
For details and higher resolution photos, see my iNat observation at https://inaturalist.nz/observations/320306081
Another photo of a green plant stem with black aphids, America regwort aphids, being tended by tan brown Australian ants, in New Zealand. My hand is there for scale holding the plant.
For details and higher resolution photos, see my iNat observation at https://inaturalist.nz/observations/320313017
A photo of a greyish hairy plant stem covered in black aphids, America regwort aphids. This plant is the NZ Pahohoraka, Senecio quadridentatus.
For details and higher resolution photos, see my iNat observation at https://inaturalist.nz/observations/320306091
Watch out: the weather is warming and the American ragwort aphids are *multiplying*.
American ragwort aphids specialise on Senecio plants, of which NZ has many species, including some threatened endemic species.
The aphid arrived in NZ (somehow) in 2023, and […]
[Original post on mastodon.nz]