Lupine with bumblebee

[sollat@masto.ai]

Lupine with bumblebee

And mites? A bunch of somethings, small and pale (greenish) higher up on the lupine?

#Gardening #Lupine #Bees #MysteryBug

[thirzajane@social.vivaldi.net]

@sollat They’re really big, whatever they are.

[sharonybaloney@alaskan.social]

@sollat They look like lupine aphids to me. Not an entomologist, but we had a lot of them locally one year that affected big swaths of lupine. They seemed to recover fine the next year or so. Generally they don’t do that much damage.

[theloopfarm@mastodon.social]

@sollat That's a pretty cool looking bug. I'm not sure what it is though.

I will keep my eyes opened for them here.

We have both perennial and annual lupines. So maybe we will get hit by something similar.

[marsiposa@social.coop]

@sollat I've seen those bugs but I don't recall what they are

Also.. you have pink lupinus!? I'm envious!

I've only got purple lupinus.
Two years ago I collected seeds from my favorite pink lupinus, which grows in a vacant plot nearby. I saved them, stratified them, grew baby plants last year. This year they finally produced flowers... and they are purple

[sollat@masto.ai]

@marsiposa
It’s somewhere between pink and purple. I wonder if it’s a pH thing like hydrangeas. I have had terrible luck with them but two are on their third year now. Hopefully the aphids won’t end the streak!

[sollat@masto.ai]

@Sharonybaloney
Omg of course they have their own bug! First the currant cutworms and now lupine aphids. I feel like I’m in a non consensual etymology class.

Looks like I’ll be spraying some neem. Thanks for the identification!

[marsiposa@social.coop]

@sollat hmm.. I wonder about the pH as well.

Wish you good luck!