Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Aphids

On 19 September 2015, I went to an Open House at the home of our main leader for both birding and botany. This was to mark the end of the botany season, which is always sad. We went on one last walk, around the neighbourhood, stopping to look at various plants in people's gardens, and then went back for tea and coffee and yummy snacks. This photo is of flowers whose stems are covered in tiny aphids - food for the Ladybug.

"Certain types of aphids live in colonies where they are used as a food source by a neighbouring colony of ants. The ants have been known to bite the wings off the aphids in order to stop them from getting away and depriving the ants of one of their staple foods: the sugar-rich sticky honeydew which is excreted by aphids when they eat plants. (They don't eat the actual Aphids). Chemicals produced in the glands of ants can also sabotage the growth of aphid wings." From ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071009212548.htm en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aphid en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chamerion_angustifolium

I can never remember what these flowers are called, but I love the beautiful, vibrant colours and the huge flower centre. No idea what the two tiny insects are, either - can't remember if I saw them or not when I was actually taking the photo. Taken in the garden at the Calgary Zoo on August 23rd. Thanks so much, Karen and Lynette - ID is Helenium / Sneezeweed! Sneezeweed is so named because it was once used in snuff, not because it is an allergen.

This is the second really bad photo I'm uploading today - should have kept it to just one, lol! Does anyone know what insects these are? Are they Aphids? The one in the top right corner has wings. This is the underside of just a small Willow leaf, so these insects were really tiny. Macro photo taken at Maclean Pond, off Elbow Falls Trail (Highway 66), on July 21st.