Black Aphids

[CW01]

Is it just my garden or are you all under attack they seem to be on everything ,not a ladybird in sight they seem to love my Dahlia's and as for the Colocasia they are swamped

[weve]

Exactly the same here! Blackfly on my Trex, fatsia, schefflera, rhubarb and others. sprayed my affected ornamental plants (not the rhubarb) with pyrethrum. First time i had to resort to a spray for about 20 years. don't know why this year,,,, heatl? drought?

[jezza]

I'm lucky, loads of ladybirds here.

[mushtaq86]

Lack of rain most likely.

[Dave Brown]

Same here, millions of them. The dry weather is suited to the ants, and the ants farm them. I spend about 1/2 hour a day running my fingers up the stems squashing them by the thousand. The ants bite in defence of their farmed aphids.

I had to cut a 5 foot Angelica flower spike off as it was totally infested.... not a single sq mm of stem was free of them.

My Aloe striatula was infested with blackfly farmed by ants, and the ants started build a nest around them in the stems. I blasted them off time and again with the hose, but eventually gave up and sprayed the aphids and ants with bug gun. The dead ants seem to have done the trick. The ants appear to be leaving it alone now

Here the ants are as much of a problem as the aphids themselves, as they move them from plant to plant before they start flying which they have just started to do

[marie06]

Haven't noticed any on my ornamentals, but there are some on my sweetcorn and globe artichokes.

[derrick]

Green fly Black fly i worked away for a week to find my Echiums full of them .Ive used to bottles of spray this year on Echiums Acer Alocasia Brugmans and Herbs.