Aphid: Wordle’s Most Difficult Challenge Yet

The five-letter word aphid meaning a small bug created a storm on social media. The latest challenge by the New York Times of a word play almost made the audience give up as they couldn’t figure out this five-letter word. They took their anger out on social media where many claimed that they didn’t even know the word ‘aphid’ even existed.  The Wordle fans in previous games had this same similar problem with other five-letter words as well. Words such as trite, agape, pinto, and gawky were all word puzzles that confused the fans and were stuck in the game. This time the word ‘aphid’ caused a barrier in their word problem.

What are aphids? Aphids are small bugs that live on plants and feed on them by sucking the plant sap, green or black fly. They can reproduce rapidly and having an excess amount could damage the growth of the plant. A small quantity of aphids is not harmful to the plants or the garden but a large quantity could cause aphid damage by turning the leaves yellow and the growth of the shoot stunted.

There are many types of aphids living on tiny leaves but there is one that is quite known and has been seen by everyone on many plants called Wooly aphids. These aphids are sap-sucking insects that produce a sticky white substance that can often look like cotton, the adult has wings from which they move from new places and lay masses of eggs, and the young ones hid in a large cotton or wool-like sticky substance to protect themselves from predators.

How to kill aphids?  Well, such insects that grow need to be terminated for they cause a lot of damage to a beautiful garden or a crop field. There are many remedies, low concentrated insecticides which will reduce the production of the aphids and will not harm the plants. Aphid control is possible if these solutions is sprayed regularly on the plants or the affected area. Plus a garden keeper should also keep checking for these insects and make sure that they are not developed too much that it goes out of control to protect the plants. The plants must be washed daily so they can be removed if carried by the wind, they should be sprayed and fertilized soil should be used to enhance their growth and reduce the production of aphids.

Aphids also create this unusual sticky stuff called aphid honeydew, it’s a sticky yellow that turns black and will turn the plant leaves into mold or fungus which in turn rot the plant to its core.

Aphids and ants, yup that is right both these tiny insects are found in grass, trees, plants, and leaves and while they share the same home they also have a pretty unusual relationship where ants protect aphids from predators like lace worms or ladybugs, aphids, on the other hand, provide food to the ants. An unusual relationship indeed.