Lacewing larvae look like funny little alligators, then turn into pretty green lacewings. The larvae are also called aphid lions, because they devour aphids. I am still amazed that one day, my butterfly weed was just covered in oleander aphids, the next day…gone. The lacewings and ladybugs had an end-of-summer feast.

Here’s a creepy grasshopper that wouldn’t stop looking at me while I photographed the eggs. I probably should have killed him, but I didn’t have the heart for it.

Am I the only person in the world who now LIKES the aphids? Instead of pests, I’ve begun to view these guys as food for my friends.

These red aphids moved in as I was taking pictures, and then a few ladybug larvae marched on in and ate them.

My digital camera doesn’t take great pictures of tiny things like that, so I use my good equipment. But that’s film, which means I have to get it developed. I did get some pictures of the eggs, though and will post when I do. They’re cool. I had to google to find out what on earth they were.

Oddly enough, the first year I went organic I bought lacewing eggs from Planet Natural. I didn’t know what I was doing, so they weren’t really appropriate for my problem of cucumber beetles and leafhoppers. But I followed the instructions, let them hatch into tiny little larvae, then pranced around and sprinkled my “fairy dust.” It was crazy good fun.

So I was quite excited to learn I’ve got lacewing eggs on a leaf. They’re so hard to see, and that plant is so ginormous, I’m certain there must be more. Now the eggs are turning a light blue, and I check every day to see if they’ve hatched. I hope to see it.

The butterfly weed attracts oleander aphids. The aphids don’t bother other plants, and even with a huge infestation, they don’t seem to do any damage on the butterfly weed. Last year, I found the aphids and thought they were monarch eggs. LOL. A friend had some too, and we got excited together. Then she said “Are eggs supposed to have tiny legs?”

I squealed and said “Ohhh! They must be hatching! The legs belong to baby caterpillars.”

Now I know better. Earlier this season I did work at squooshing them while wearing a glove. It was nasty and that glove is worse. But the ladybugs just loved them, so I decided to let them be. I wanted to make sure the ladybugs I had worked so hard to attract (Queen Anne’s Lace and hairy vetch) would have food.

That was great fun, but then a big rain came and washed them all away. So the eensy weensy spider…oops. The ladybugs left and I hadn’t seen any for a few weeks. But the aphids returned and I just let them grow into what would be a huge infestation for anyone else. To me, they were just part of the fascinating little ecosystem I’ve got going on that plant. And sure enough, the ladybugs returned.

Yesterday the plant looked like this times about 100. Just covered in aphids.

All of the yellow/orange dots and clusters are oleander aphids.

Today, the entire plant has been CLEANED of aphids. The aphid lions (lacewings) have done their job. I saw two lacewing larvae (again, pictures later) marching around in search of food. One was little, the other kind of large. If you didn’t know what they were, they might be scary. I know there had to be more, but I’m blown away that some lacewing larvae could clean up that huge plant in one day. No wonder they’re called the aphid lion. So obviously there were eggs somewhere else and they’d hatched.

I swear this plant is a science class in itself. If I had kids, I’d have them out at that plant every day learning about nature. I actually do bring my neighbor’s little granddaughters over now and then and we study the monarch caterpillars and talk about how they become butterflies.

It’s been so fascinating.

But who likes aphids? Why, the ladybugs do! So I was pondering whether or not to bother with getting rid of some of the aphids and I saw a ladybug having a feast. It really made me feel like my organic gardening had come full circle. One of the goals is to plant things that attract beneficial insects, who then feed on insects and larvae that can damage your plants.

It’s one thing to plant all of these things, and see the beneficials fluttering around, but to actually see one at work, doing what you wanted her to do? It was so exciting – I was witnessing the whole plan in action. Letting Mother Nature keep things in balance. Then I saw a baby ladybug, probably just beyond the larval stage. Ladybug larvae are freaky looking, like colorful tiny alligators.

So for now, unless they really get out of control, I’ve decided to let the aphids be. They don’t bother any other plant, and they’ve never caused any damage on the butterfly weed. To be honest, I think the clusters of them are kind of pretty. (Until you zoom in and see those freaky little black legs.)

End of update.

I had a great day at the organic store and not only got my guano, but I also got some earthworm castings and some little clay balls. Those are some kind of hydroponic thing (so far, every organic store I’ve gone to specializes in hydroponics), but I’m going to use them to grow cat grass. One of our cats gets frantic around any kind of soil or soil-like substance (like coir) and digs like a dog until she’s torn it all up. This is why I can’t have any live, reachable houseplants in the house, and it’s why she can’t go to the basement.

I just hope she doesn’t think they’re balls to roll on the floor. We’ll see.

Then while I was out that way, I went to a nursery I’d never visited, and was…disappointed. Big time. They had a nice website, and it looked a lot bigger than it is in person. I may be spoiled by the greenhouse near me that has acres of greenhouses.

Anyway, this place had a listing of the available plants, and they had good prices it seemed. (And same supplier as “my” greenhouse, but half the price) First off, they *didn’t* have what I wanted, despite having said they have several varieties of a plant I want. Second, the lady I asked barely knew what a petunia was. Seriously, she was NEW to the gardening world. And anyone who might know where certain things were, or if they had them, was either off for the day, or on an errand.

Third, their Asclepias incarnata plants were infested with aphids. Those little orange buggers were hopping around and having a blast. To be fair, these aphids aren’t a big deal and as far as I know, only go after this plant. If you grow it, you’ll get the aphids; it’s almost a certainty unless you live on Mars.

On the other hand, all it takes is a blast of the water sprayer to get rid of them. I’ve never had them come back after one squirt. Perhaps it’s not unusual for a nursery to allow aphids on the Asclepias? I’ve never seen it before, but I actually only started growing this variety of Asclepias last year. (Successfully from seed, but this year, my seed didn’t germinate. I do think I have some growing in the ground…I’m not 100 percent sure. Crossing my fingers, though.)

I got the aphids last year and got excited, thinking they were monarch eggs. They actually look delicious, like caviar. Every time I see a picture of the aphids, I get hungry for some caviar. Is that icky or what?

But check it out: aphids on the left, salmon caviar on the right. And the aphids don’t always move around. That’s why I thought they were eggs at first.

Here is Asclepias incarnata in bloom, mid summer: