Woolly Aphids

 

Have you ever seen these tiny tufts of fluff floating on the wind? I have, but I never knew that they were alive until a couple weeks ago. My son snatched one out of the air. He looked at what he collected and then said, "Hey, this is a bug!"

Yes, indeed, it was a bug. It looked like a tiny flyfishing lure.

This bug is called a Woolly Aphid. They suck tree sap. As a group they can look like mold or lichen on a tree. When they are adults they grow wings and fly/float to other trees.

They are know by the cutest common names:

‘flying mice,’ ‘cotton fairies,’ ‘fluff bugs,’ ‘poodle flies,’ and ‘fluffy gnats.’

And they are a really cute!

For further reading and more pictures of Woolly Aphids check this page out:

Leafy Place