Seaside Aphids

Today's adventure took me to a bay in one of Long Island's barrier islands. I didn't get too much in the water besides some Blue Crabs that chased me for some time (Canada Geese of the sea). The same was true on land, where there were only 10 or so species in a small strip of saltmarsh, but I picked up some odd Aphids almost coating some Carolina Sea Lavender. Some further research identified them as an undescribed and very poorly known species in the genus Staticobium, which had never been recorded in North America until recently. It's unknown if the Staticobium in North America are a new species or a known species that was either always present or recently introduced. Hopefully I can get some specimens (if I can figure out how to preserve them) in hopes of at figuring out some part of this mystery.

Posted on 14 de julho de 2019, 03:34 AM by astrobirder