Been on a killing spree....

[Stigmorgan]

The biggest pro lem with aphids is the speed they reproduce, they're actually born pregnant

 

[isaac3d]

The biggest pro lem with aphids is the speed they reproduce, they're actually born pregnant

Isn't nature wonderful!
Whilst food is abundant, aphids reproduce asexually. Meaning that they just make clones of themselves. This maximises the number of copies of their genes out there in the minimum time (no need to expend time and effort finding a suitable mate). Of course asexual reproduction is not a long term exclusive strategy. If too many individuals have identical genes then finding a suitable mate, when it comes to humping time, can be difficult, plus if that "individual" is susceptible to a deadly disease then a large portion of the total population can be wiped out in a stroke.
Isn't nature wonderful? Sure is!

 

[Henniep]

I'm currently battling aphids and ants, of the 300+ trees I've planted around school over covid (thanks to the woodland trusts free trees for schools programme) I have 20 wild cherry trees that are being decimated because ants have set up home at the base of each one and have been farming the aphids, every day I remove hundreds of the littlen 5h1t5 but as long as the ants are farming them its an ongoing battle but because its a school I'm very limited as to what I can use against them, if I can get rid of the ants I'll stand a chance against the aphids, plenty of predator insects that will eat them but the ants fight them off

Try sprinkling argicultural lime around the base of the trees to control the ants. Dishwashing liquid will then sort the aphids out