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Re: Aphids and Springtails
On Thu, 18 Jan 1996 Aquatic-Plants-Owner at actwin_com wrote:
> ------------------------------
>
> From: "jscott" <jscott at vistagw_hsv.vista-inc.com>
> Date: Thu, 18 Jan 1996 09:40:02 +0000
> Subject: Re: Aphids
>
> What you are describing are not aphids, they are aquatic
> insects called springtails of the order Collembola. They are
> completely harmless and were probably introduced with some of your
> floating aquatic plants (possibly collected from the wild). They
> will colonize the floating plants in your tank and probably go
> unnoticed unless the plants are disturbed and they start jumping
> around. The fish will eat them if they can catch up with them, but
> be careful that an enthusiastic eater doesn't jump out of your tank.
>
> Jeff Scott, Ph.D.
> Vista Technologies, Inc.
> jscott at hsv_vista-inc.com
>
I didn't write the original post you have responded too, but I have
recently discovered aphids galore on the frogbit in two of my tanks. I
have had springtails in the past, but only in tanks with young fry. As
soon as the fry are patrolling the tank, the springtails dissappear. Not
true with the aphids; the Apistogramma borellii juveniles won't eat them
(yet?) and juvenile angels aren't thrilled with them either. I've tried
dunking them, but aphids are quite prolific (hell, as I remember they don't
even need to have sex!) and it doesn't seem to put a dent in the population.
Any other control ideas out there?
Paul Bucciaglia, almost-a-Ph.D-if-I-can-finish-my-thesis
Dept.'s of Plant Biology, Horticulture, and Forest Resources
paul-b at molbio_cbs.umn.edu