Bug Poop — That Sticky Stuff on Your Car
Flower-loving bugs, including aphids, have experienced a population explosion after this year's wet spring. Photo by James Bowe, flickr.com/photos/jamesrbowe.If you’re curious what that sticky residue on your car is, you’ll be pleased to know it’s not tree sap. But the answer isn’t much more comforting — it’s actually aphid poop.
Since March, the population of aphids — the little bugs that feed on flowers and tree leaves — has been growing. They go through a few generations in a week, each generation larger than the last. And it looks like they aren’t slowing down.
“If the fall flowering is strong, it’ll be winter before any of the insect populations start to slow down,” said Keith Huddle, owner of Keith’s Bee Service in Austin.
Huddle says with the winter rains, aphids and bees have experienced a population explosion.
“So now that the flowers are doing so well, you’ll get things that hurt them like the aphids to increase,” Huddle said. “And then they’ll eat themselves out of a food source, and then their population will drop.”
And when the flower and aphid populations drop, the bees will start to swarm aphid-heavy plants and even empty soda cans — anything with sugar.
As for the sticky stuff on your car, you can expect that to come and go with any rain.
