Oleander Aphids

Habitat and Food Source(s): Host plants are restricted to oleander, butterfly weed and milkweed. Aphids do not usually cause plant health to suffer, although their high numbers and accumulation of sooty mold associated with honey dew expelled can be a nuisance and be unsightly. In most cases, many of the oleander aphids become infested with a parasitic wasp, Lysiphlebus testaceipes (Cresson) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae). Infested aphids swell, turn brown and die. The wasp cuts a hole in the back of the aphid’s abdomen to emerge.