DTHunter wrote:
Hi all,

I have a big problem that I hope you can help me with. I have just
moved to a new home (up in north Wales) and have a nice back garden,
so planed to start growing stuff. I brought a pear tree from the
local nursery last week. After a few days it started to droop its
leaves, some curled up and others had brown parts to it. I did see
orange bugs on two of the leaves, but could not fine any information
about them on the net.

Well to day I seen a green aphid, so I phoned the local nursery to
fine out what to do and they just told me to use something that they
sell called a bug gun. Now this would not have been a problem and
most people would of used it, but I have an other hobby; ant
collecting. I really love this house because it is my first garden
that has yellow ants (L. flavus) in it and I really do not want to
harm them. If I use the bug gun, I know it will probably kill them as
well as other insects in the garden.

What I would like to know is, is there away to get rid of the aphids
without getting rid of the ants? If not could the pear tree survive
with aphids living on it?

P.S I can get picture of the tree if you need.

You can hose aphids off with a strong stream of water, they are not able to
climb back up to feed so they die on the ground. This is not certain to get
them all though. If you have keen eyesight and patience you can pull the
rest off by hand. Also you could spray with one of the less toxic chemicals
such as pyrethrum and if you are careful about limiting where you spray and
the amount of run-off it will not hurt ants on the ground. You only need to
spray the soft tips where the aphids feed. Of course if the ants are in the
tree any insecticide will get them too. The tree may survive aphids
depending on the degree of infestation. The primary problem is they reduce
the tree's vigour by sucking the sap. A secondary problem is that aphids
may be a disease vector.

David