The white, fuzzy masses on last week’s puzzler may have looked like some kind of fungal growth but they are actually an animal, or more accurate, many animals. If we pushed through the white fuzz, we would discover many small insects underneath, called wooly aphids. These aphids, like other aphids you’ve seen on your milkweed or other plants, feed on the sap of the tree or flower that they’re on. Beneath all that fuzz there’s a black insect covered with white waxy secretions.
Wooly aphids are also called cotton fairies, fluff bugs, poodle flyers, and fluffy gnats. (Great names right? Which is your favorite?) The adults live only about a month. Eggs laid in fall will overwinter and hatch out the following spring. The white fuzz protects and their habit of grouping together in large masses helps protect them from predators.
Do you need a smile this Saturday? Then our next puzzler is perfect for you! As that’s exactly what it is. Check it out here.