Aphis on Pistia from M. Kolaczewski

From: michael kolaczewski <mjkolaffhbc at sbcglobal.net> on 2009.07.17 at 05:16:16(19550) Greetings, More often than not, my Planted aquariums get "infested" with Collembola. They are also known by the common name, Springtails. They look similar to aphids. On the under side of their abdomen, is a "spring", hence their name. They are small enough to live upon the surface of the water, or on the upper surface of the leaves. I usually see them gathering on Anubias, Nelumbo, and Nymphaea leaves. You can check as to which one is in your tank, by moving your finger, a pencil, or any other object, towards them. Springtails will jump off the leaves, or even off the surface of the water! If they jump, they are of course Springtails. If not, They could very well be Aphids. there are several organic products, generally plant oils, people use in ponds to treat aphids on Aquatic plants. I have never used these in an aquarium before, ( It is not recommended). I employ skimmers in my aquariums, so eventually, the little guys get swept into the filters, or the fish get them. Michael Kolaczewski HTML +More From: Theodore Held To: Aroid-l@gizmoworks.com Sent: Thursday, July 16, 2009 1:05:14 PM Subject: [Aroid-l] Aphis on Pistia Dear List, To my surprise I found that an aquarium of mine with a layer of floating Pistia contained numerous tiny aphids, evidently parasitising what I assumed previously to be a pest-resistant aroid. The aphids in question are slightly yellowish-brown in color. Other Pistia I have are not infested. Does anyone have any knowledge of this curiosity? I can send a vial of preserved specimens in case we have a legit parasitologist reading this. Ted Held _______________________________________________ Aroid-L mailing list Aroid-L@www.gizmoworks.com http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l --0-2122014081-1247807776=:29692----==============i66255968146401848=

From: Theodore Held <oppenhauser2001 at gmail.com> on 2009.07.17 at 18:14:59(19566) Thank you, Michael. My beasts are definitely aphids. The thing I find interesting is that Pistia would be the last plant I would choose to infest were I an aphid. If you look closely, Pistia will be seen to be hairy. In fact the epidermal hairs are so long and densely packed that I am surprised that any aphids would be able to get their mouth parts near the juicy bits. Maybe these aphids are specialized with long mouth parts? Maybe they somehow burrow down so they can be near enough to sip? Maybe they can extract fluids directly from the hairs? Gosh, I dunno. Thanks again for the response, Ted. +More On Fri, Jul 17, 2009 at 1:16 AM, michael kolaczewski wrote: > Greetings, > More often than not, my Planted aquariums get "infested" with Collembola. > They are also known by the common name,Springtails. They look simil ar > to aphids. On the under side of their abdomen, is a "spring", hence their > name. They are small enough to live upon the surface of the water, or on the > upper > surface of the leaves. I usually see them gathering on Anubias, Nelumbo, and > Nymphaea > leaves. You can check as to which one is in your tank, by moving your > finger, > a pencil, or any other object, towards them. Springtailswill jump off the > leaves, or even > off the surface of the water! > If they jump, they are of course Springtails. If not, They could very well > be Aphids. > there are several organic products, generally plant oils, people use in > ponds > to treat aphids on Aquatic plants. > I have never used these in an aquarium before, ( It is not recommended). > I employ skimmers in my aquariums, so eventually, the little guys get swe pt > into the > filters, or the fish get them. > Michael Kolaczewski > > > > ________________________________ > From: Theodore Held > To: Aroid-l@gizmoworks.com > Sent: Thursday, July 16, 2009 1:05:14 PM > Subject: [Aroid-l] Aphis on Pistia > > Dear List, > > To my surprise I found that an aquarium of mine with a layer of > floating Pistia contained numerous tiny aphids, evidently parasitising > what I assumed previously to be a pest-resistant aroid. The aphids in > question are slightly yellowish-brown in color. Other Pistia I have > are not infested. Does anyone have any knowledge of this curiosity? > > I can send a vial of preserved specimens in case we have a legit > parasitologist reading this. > > Ted Held > _______________________________________________ > Aroid-L mailing list > Aroid-L@www.gizmoworks.com > http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l > > _______________________________________________ > Aroid-L mailing list > Aroid-L@www.gizmoworks.com > http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l > > _______________________________________________ Aroid-L mailing list Aroid-L@www.gizmoworks.com http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l

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