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Some are saprotrophs, eating decaying plant or animal matter, while others are insectivores, eating aphids, thrips, and other plant-sucking insects. [6] [14] Predatory species are beneficial to farmers and gardeners, because aphids destroy crops, and hoverfly maggots are often used in biological control.
The eggs hatch as caterpillars which feed on the aphids. The ants do not defend the aphids from the caterpillars, since the caterpillars produce a pheromone which deceives the ants into treating them like ants, and carrying the caterpillars into their nest. Once there, the ants feed the caterpillars, which in return produce honeydew for the ants.
Most specialisation of mouthparts are for piercing and sucking, and this mode of feeding has evolved a number of times independently. For example, mosquitoes (which are true flies) and aphids (which are true bugs) both pierce and suck, though female mosquitoes feed on animal blood whereas aphids feed on plant fluids.
Honeydew is a sugar-rich sticky liquid, secreted by aphids, some scale insects, and many other true bugs and some other insects as they feed on plant sap. When their mouthpart penetrates the phloem , the sugary, high-pressure liquid is forced out of the anus of the insects, allowing them to rapidly process the large volume of sap required to ...
The larvae of Diptera feed on a diverse array of nutrients ; often these are different from those of adults, for instance the larvae of Syrphidae in which family the adults are flower-feeding are saprotrophs, eating decaying plant or animal matter, or insectivores, eating aphids, thrips, and other plant-sucking insects.
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An aphid infestation can ruin a garden. Learn what causes aphids and how to identify, kill, and control them naturally for healthy plants with no aphid holes.
Ladybirds are also used. They eat mostly insect eggs, but will also feed on beetle larvae, aphids, scale insects, and young caterpillars. Adults are often collected when in a dormant state in the wild and shipped for use in pest control; however, they may not stay in the location where they are released.