Public enemy No. 2 Winnipeggers subjected to sticky seasonal scourge as aphid excrement coats cars and makes roads gummy By: Kevin Rollason Posted: 7:00 PM CDT Monday, Jun. 28, 2021

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 27/06/2021 (1231 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s hot out, yes, but it’s not humidity that’s making you feel sticky.

Nope, that wet, syrupy stuff you feel misting your face as you take a stroll on Winnipeg sidewalks, what’s coating your vehicle’s windshield after it has been parked outside for a day or two, what’s causing your sandals to stick to the pavement is honeydew from aphids.

And, by honeydew, we mean aphid excrement. Yup, aphid poo.

It may be aphids’ No. 2, but for those spending time under our elm canopy it is currently No. 1 on the list of yucky things Winnipeggers have to deal with each summer.

Lyle Barkman, one of the four co-owners of Tall Grass Prairie Bakery, said the only reason their outdoor tables aren’t covered in aphid doodoo is because of COVID — they haven’t been set up yet because of the recent restrictions. However, Barkman said they do have chairs outside for customers who want to eat a baked treat while checking their email.

“I didn’t notice it last week, but this week it seems like we’ve got the motherlode right now,” said Barkman. “This morning when I pulled out with a delivery the road was just like glue. My staff will be cleaning the chairs for sure.

“And, no, the sticky stuff on the road is not an overflow at the bakery.”

Winnipeggers are well familiar with our various annual “interactions’ with insects. First we have cankerworms dropping into our hair, usually followed by mosquitos to slap at, then aphids. Next up might be tent caterpillars, somewhere in there we can expect mayflies (a.k.a. fishflies) and, wrapping up the summer nicely, wasps to terrorize our efforts at outdoor dining.

Aphids, like cankerworms, live high up in the trees, but unlike the worms, they don’t defoliate the trees. Instead, the aphids feed on the tree’s leaves, sucking out the sap at one end, and, uh, getting rid of what their bodies don’t need at the other end.

And, because sap is mostly sugar, and liquid sugar is sticky, that’s why the honeydew they produce adheres so well to vehicles and the bottom of peoples’ shoes.

“It’s sticky 101,” said Taz Stuart, a bug expert and director of technical operations at Poulin’s Pest Control.

“Normally it is not as bad as this, but it has been a lot of hot and dry for two years now. River Heights, or really any place with large trees, have aphids in the leaves. The car is covered, the road looks like it has been tarred.

“And, if you leave it too long on the vehicle in this heat, it will actually do damage to your clearcoat.”

Stuart said the aphids lay their eggs in a leaf, which they fold over, and in little more than a week new aphids will be out sucking on sap and… well, you know.

But many things in life are a tradeoff and, as it turns out, getting rid of aphids is no different.

“Until the trees get a bath, we’ll have aphids. We do need rain to wash them away — they also have predators out there. But we benefit right now with the conditions aphids like, because there are no mosquitoes.”

Currently, Environment Canada forecasts Winnipeg will not get rain in the next five days, but can expect mostly sunny days with temperatures in the 30s, including 35 C predicted for Saturday and 31 C for Canada Day.

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca

Kevin Rollason
Reporter

Kevin Rollason is one of the more versatile reporters at the Winnipeg Free Press. Whether it is covering city hall, the law courts, or general reporting, Rollason can be counted on to not only answer the 5 Ws — Who, What, When, Where and Why — but to do it in an interesting and accessible way for readers.

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