Aphids are small, sap-sucking insects that are more of a disaster to your garden. Aphids can damage your plants in the garden, and greenhouse crops are their big victims. But the question is, are aphids harmful to humans? Aphids are pests that can destroy your plants and vegetables. They carry dangerous viruses that damage plants’ health.
Their mouth parts are only for tasting plants and getting their food from them, and their teeth are incapable of biting. Although they carry various viruses, they are harmful only to plants, not to humans. You will most likely encounter these creatures if you are a garden owner. There are various types of aphids, and in this guide, we will discuss them and learn whether they can hurt humans.
What are Aphids
Aphids are tiny, soft-bodied pear-shaped pests measuring between 1/16 to 1/8 inches long. They can be difficult to see with the naked eye because of their tiny size. These tiny insects have wings, and some of them are wingless. They are in red, black, green, yellow, and brown colors and contain two chronicles at the end of the abdomen.
These are sucking pests and love to suck the sap from new leaves, buds, and developing stems. This can damage the plant and block its growth. You can see them under the leaves and around a plant’s stems mainly in clusters. These are the best parts of plants for feed.
Where do Aphids Come from
Aphids adults emerge during spring and fly to locate suitable host plants, initiating new colonies. As the temperatures rise, these adults emerge and fly to locate suitable host plants, initiating new colonies. Thus, the first generation of aphids is produced. Research shows that the first hatch of eggs in spring produces females. They live about 30 days, and each female produces 80 offspring.
In the summer and spring, aphids reproduce asexually, and the newborn is alive, all of which are offspring females. However, when fall reaches this cycle of developing into female and male aphids, The male aphids breed with females, and the females lay eggs on the host plant that will remain on this plant all winter.
The winged female develops when there is a food shortage in early fall and summer, and they move towards the new areas. Where they reproduce wingless females, and you can see flying aphids in the fall when their territory expands.
Different Types of Aphids
Almost 4,000 known species of aphids have been discovered, but only about 250 are considered pests of crops and ornamental plants. In addition, most of them have similar appearance rather than their colors. The most common types of aphids are described below:
1. Green Peach Aphid
Their scientific name is Myzus persicae. It is one of the most widespread aphid pests. They are reddish or yellowish-green aphids that feed on more than 500 host plants. This type of aphid feeds on the sap of plants by inserting its mouth directly into the vascular system of the plant. They are common in flowerbeds and home gardens.
2. Cabbage Aphid
Brevicoryne brassicae is the biological name of a Cabbage Aphid. They attack brassica family members like Brussels sprouts, kohlrabi, cabbage, kale, broccoli, and cauliflower. These aphids have a cover of gray-green wax.
3. Potato Aphids
Potato aphids are green or pink in color and hatch on rose bushes. They emerge from the eggs in spring and feed on new growth. However, they migrate to tomato or potato plants and introduce mosaic diseases. They can also damage weeds and ornamental plants. Their scientific name is Macrosiphum euphorbia.
4. Melon or Cotton Aphid
The scientific term for these aphids is Aphis gossypii. They are dark green to black aphids that love to feed from melons, but you can find them in all the nearby vegetable plants.
5. Rose Aphid
These aphids are large, pink, or light green and have the scientific name Macrosiphum rosae. They infest roses particularly damaging bushes of the Rose plant.
6. Woolly Apple Aphid
The scientific term for these aphids is Eriosoma lanigerum. They are unique because they can produce wax-like thread filament on the abdomen. It gives them a fuzzy appearance and mainly feeds on apple plants.
Do Aphids Cause Skin Irritation
The aphids are not harmful to humans, but in rare cases, they can cause mild skin irritation when in contact with aphids. So, gloves are good if you have aphids on your plants.
In case of skin reaction due to the aphids, use an Aloe Vera gel or cream on the affected part of your skin. The allergic reaction will disappear in 1 or 2 days.
Are Aphids Harmful to Pets
No aphids are not harmful to pets as they feed only on the sap of plants. The mouth parts of the aphids are only designed to affect the plants; they use their teeth to sap the plants and cannot bite the pets.
These aphids cannot live on the fur of pets. Further, if the pets can get an aphid on their fur from the garden, the aphid will die soon due to the absence of sap to feed. They cannot harm your cat, dog, or other pets, so don’t worry about them.
Can Aphids Live on or Infest Humans
Aphids cannot live on or infest humans as these small pests get their feed from plants. Aphids feed on plant sap, and their mouth parts can only affect the plants, not humans or other creatures.
So, worrying about these aphids is unnecessary if they wander around you. Their teeth cannot sting humans, and pet skin only sucks the sap from plants.
What Are the Natural Predators of Aphids
Various insects like to feed or attack aphids. If you are worried about the infesting of aphids in your yard, it is good to introduce these natural predators in your garden. In this way, you can control the infestation of aphids on your plants. Here’s a breakdown of some common aphid predators:
1. Lacewings
These brown and green lacewings are an excellent natural source of aphid control because their larvae feed on aphids. You can easily buy them and introduce them to your yard.
2. Lady Bugs
Lady Bugs are a famous insect with a severe craving for aphids. These ladybugs can eat larvae and adult aphids readily available, so buy them, release them in your garden, and see the results.
How Do You Get Rid of Aphids
How to get rid of aphids? The answer to this question is that there are various ways to eliminate aphids if they infest your garden. Instead of using insecticides, use organic ways as they are safe and don’t harm your plants and pets. Here are some organic or natural ways to get rid of these aphids:
1. Beneficial Predators
Lacewings and ladybugs are natural predators of aphids and are good natural sources if you want to eliminate aphids without destroying your plants. They can eat larvae and adult aphids and help prevent your plants from being infested with them.
2. Spray with Water
The water blast is helpful in washing off the aphids on your plants. They will get their way to reach the plants once the aphids enter the wing stage. So water them from your garden hose and keep them away from your plants.
3. Insecticidal Soap
Using insecticidal soaps like horticultur can help you eliminate aphids. You can also use a mixture of water, vegetable oil, and a 1/2 teaspoon of dish soap to treat aphids. Fill a spray bottle with this solution and spray it on aphids. The solution will coat a layer on the aphid’s body, block its breathing pores, and kill them. However, spraying the mixture or insecticidal soap directly on the aphid’s body is essential for this method.
4. Use Diatomaceous Earth
It is another natural and nontoxic insecticide that dehydrates aphids when they contact it. However, don’t use diatomaceous earth in the blooming season, as it can kill or damage pollinators such as butterflies and bees.
5. Plant Different Things
It is good to plant those things that aphids don’t like. Onions, marigolds, leeks, chives, and catnip are the things that aphids don’t like and run away from their smell. You can use these companion planting methods in your yard to reduce the infestation of aphids. However, it is not a permanent method to get rid of aphids.
6. Flour on Plants
Sometimes, the population of aphids may not controlled by spraying water on them. In this condition, sprinkle flour on the plants, as the flour constipates the aphids, and you can get rid of them.
7. Neem Oil
Neem oil is the best source for removing aphids and a safe organic compound for your garden. It is essential to distribute the oil throughout the plants affected by the aphids and see the results.
All the above methods are beneficial and can reduce the infestation of aphids in your yards without damaging your plants or affecting your pets. However, getting rid of them as soon as possible is essential because they can invite other insects, like ants, for their honeydew. If you don’t pay any attention to the aphids, you may search for methods to eliminate ants on the plants.
Conclusion
Although aphids are small insects, they are harmful and can destroy your garden. With their small mouth parts, they can suck and eat plants as they leave their saliva on plants, which will not heal. The infestation can cause the plants to stunt and wither. These pests only eat plants and get their food from them, so don’t worry. They will not harm humans and pets. However, they do not physically affect humans; instead, they stress them mentally by destroying their beautiful gardens. So, next time you see aphids on your plants, do not worry and grab the hose! use natural methods like ladybugs or insecticidal soap can send these sap-sucking creatures packing.
FAQs
1. Can you get sick from aphids?
No, you will not get sick due to aphids, and they cannot create any sickness due to skin contact or ingestion. The viruses or diseases transmitted by the aphids are purely for the plants and cannot harm human health if they touch or swallow them.
2. Can you wash off aphids?
You can wash them off, but it may take extra time. It is good to use cold water with a pinch of salt or soap instead of replacing it with simple water, as the salt can adhere to the surface of the plants. However, the mixture of soap and salt will wash off the plants thoroughly.
3. Should I worry about aphids?
Aphids are common insects found on various plants in your garden. In most cases, they don’t affect the plants and their health. However, the severe attack of aphids can cause curled, twisted leaves, dead or stunted shots, and yellow leaves and also affect the growth of plants.
4. Do Aphids Bite Humans?
Aphids do not bite humans. This tiny creature feeds on plants with a piercing and sucking mouthpart. So, maybe they crawl on you while walking in a garden or handling plants but there’s no chance of aphid bites.
5. Can Aphids Cause Skin Irritation?
Aphids do not bite however, they can cause skin irritation sometimes. This happens due to some specific specie of aphids that injects mild venom. But that venom is not harmful and just causes allergic reactions in a few people.