Braconid wasps for melon aphid
The wild braconid wasp Lysiphlebus testaceipes is an especially effective natural enemy of melon aphid, sometimes parasitising up to 99% of a population (UF/IFAS). Broad-spectrum sprays aimed at other pests remove it, and UF/IFAS notes such sprays sometimes lead to melon aphid outbreaks. Ants tending the aphids attack natural enemies (UC IPM), so keep them off.
Before you act
Small parasitic wasps (the common Cotesia species are only 2–3 mm long) whose larvae develop inside a caterpillar or an aphid and kill it. The white, rice-grain cocoons standing up on the back of a hornworm are theirs, and a hornworm carrying them should be left on the plant. How to recognise it, what it is confused with and how to keep it around are on the full Braconid wasps profile.
Other controls for melon aphid
- Aphidius colemaniParasitoid wasp · 0.25–4 /m² per release, at least three releases
- Aphidoletes aphidimyzaPredatory midge · 1–10 /m² per release, weekly
- Chrysoperla carneaGreen lacewing larvae · 2–20 /m² per release, weekly
- HoverfliesWild predator (larvae) · Wild — attract adults with open flowers
- LadybugsWild predator · Nothing to release — conserve the ones already there