Another kind of sap sucker

Aphids are very small, fat insects. They have a tiny pin-like mouth part they use to prick the tender new growth of a plant. They will then sit and gorge themselves with sap.

There are many different kinds and colors of aphids. The most noticeable ones reproduce very quickly and often are seen in great numbers huddled together on new growth of garden and house plants.

Controlling aphids may be problematic because they can reproduce so fast that leaving a few behind usually will result in a new infestation.

A few non-chemical ways to get rid of aphids include wiping them away with a wet rag, spraying them off the plant with a stream of water from the garden hose and pruning away the infested parts of the plant.

It is wise to put the pruned parts of the plant (with aphids on it) in the hot sunshine, where the plant parts will wilt fast and the aphids will die with it.

Ants often are seen tending aphids, but they are not eating the aphids. Instead they are "milking" individual aphids for the sweet "honeydew" they produce. American ladybugs sometimes will eat aphids, but often they cannot control an aphid outbreak because of the aphid's fast reproductive pace.

Some aphids have wings and can fly. Aphids winter over on weed or plant stems as tiny eggs.