"Des Higgins" wrote in message
...
On May 12, 12:42 pm, (Nick Maclaren) wrote:
In article ,
David in Normandy writes:| Mary Fisher wrote:

| I don't grow lupins because of the huge blue aphids which infested
them when
| I did.
|
| There was a question on GQT about this yesterday. Someone said that
they
| were big enough to barbecue - as kebabs.

More nutritious than steak, too.

| Yes, there seems to be all sizes from tiny to Godzilla. I'm surprised
| the plant was still alive considering the amount of them sucking it's
| sap. It was wilting and looked really poorly yesterday. Today it has
| perked up and looking happy again.
|
| I noticed the aphids had a bluish tinge about them so wasn't 100% sure
| if they were aphids or blackfly. Are they a specific species that
preys
| on lupins?

I've only seen them on lupins.

Essentially, yes. There are dozens of species of aphid common in
the UK (and France), and most are partially host-specific.

Regards,
Nick Maclaren.


I remember informally seeing mention of "lupin aphids" and you
certainly tend to see them on most lupin plants sooner or later and
they are distinctive through sheer size but here is the lowdown as
found by google:

http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile...upin_aphid.asp

But that site says: "This aphid is native to North America and was first
detected in England in 1981"

Well, sorry, but the ones in my garden were in the 1960s. We moved into this
house in 1964 and lupins were already in the garden. I saw the aphids
shortly after and pulled up the plants, never had them (lupins) since.

Perhaps it was only defined as a different aphid from the ones already here
in 1981 but the ones on our lupins were so distinctive that they were
memorable. My mother was a great gardener and always had lupins, I never saw
the aphids on hers but that was before we moved here.

I'm not claiming to be a First ...

Mary