Bug Identification Help - Aphid?

[JustGrowing420]

Well well, I have so far encountered thrips, fungus gnats, soil mites and spingtails (i think). Now I have a new visitor, damn.

I have searched first, before posting here, and most images of winged aphids do not look like that, more like a fungus gnat with extra long wings.

However I have seen some pictures online that look like this and it got me concerned....

I have checked undersides of leaves, near the root zone, even pulled couple plants in small containers to inspect roots on the side surfaces.

I have also checked the roots of a small seedling by carefully ripping it out with as much root and looking with a 30x loupe, that was not doing well anyway so I though why not have a look. Nothing.

Any info appreciated.

 

[Creeperpark]

Aphids can be knocked off with a jet spray of water. When you water your plants spray the hell out of them with water. If you find stickie stuff where they have been, then it is Aphids.

 

[Growenhaft]

i would count these animals among the fruit flies. these would not cause any direct damage.
if you have a damage on your plants, it would be unusual if it were derived from the small flies.

take a test. put a small bowl of water with a good dash of fruit vinegar in your room ...
if it is one of the thousands of subspecies of a fruit fly, you should be able to find dead animals in your bowl within 48 hours.

 

[JustGrowing420]

i would count these animals among the fruit flies. these would not cause any direct damage.
if you have a damage on your plants, it would be unusual if it were derived from the small flies.

take a test. put a small bowl of water with a good dash of fruit vinegar in your room ...
if it is one of the thousands of subspecies of a fruit fly, you should be able to find dead animals in your bowl within 48 hours.

Yeah, looks a lot more like it, also no damage on the plants.
I hanged a fresh sticky trap to see if the wind brought them in.
I'll try the vinegar too, why not, to double check.

Thanks both.

 

[Creeperpark]

The Aphids don't directly hurt the plants, but the honeydew from them is a problem. It's sticky and attracts ants and other pests and weakening the plants' defenses. If you keep the plants sprayed down with water from time to time you should be ok. However, adult Aphids overwinter on host plants in and around the garden. They will be back next year, so you may need to do something different. Good luck,

 

[JustGrowing420]

Thanks for the info, I put a new sticky trap and also the vinegar but nothing on either, they must have come in with the wind and I'm thinking it's not aphids after all. Checked the plants very well and found nothing and no sticky residue.

 

[buzzmobile]

Aphids are disease vectors.

https://ag.umass.edu/vegetable/fact-sheets/aphids-viruses

An insect must feed for a minimum of ten minutes to an hour to pick up a persistent virus from an infected host. The virus must then undergo a dormant period of at least 12 hours within the insect before it can be transmitted to another plant. Aphids will remain infective (able to vector a virus) with a persistent virus for at least a week and potentially throughout their life. A good insect management program can be very helpful in dealing with persistent virus diseases.

Aphids pick up nonpersistent viruses by merely probing (exploring) an infected leaf. This happens rapidly--within seconds or minutes. A dormant period is not required and the aphid can immediately transmit the virus by probing another plant. Aphids remain infective with nonpersistent viruses for a short time (minutes).

Systemic materials are generally the most effective insecticides available for aphid control. Systemic insecticides are taken into the plant and become present in the plant juices. Aphids feed by sucking juices from the plant, and when they do so they also ingest some of the insecticide. However, when just probing a leaf an aphid is not feeding and does not ingest plant juices or insecticide. In fact, the presence of an insecticide may actually stimulate probing and cause aphids to move from plant to plant in an effort to fine a suitable feeding site. This can increase the spread of nonpersistent viruses. For this reason nonpersistent viruses are very difficult to manage. There are no pesticides that kill viruses and, as explained above, they may actually make matters worse.
https://ag.umass.edu/vegetable/fact-sheets/aphids-viruses

https://ag.umass.edu/vegetable/fact-sheets/aphids-viruses