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Sticker of Black bean aphid
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Black bean aphid

Aphis fabae
Name means: “fabae comes from the Latin word faba, which means bean”
Eats: PlantsTrue bugs and cicadasGardens and meadows6 legs

The black bean aphid is a tiny, plump, soft black bug, only about as big as a pinhead. You almost never see just one. In summer whole crowds of them sit on the tips of bean plants and under the leaves.

Lives in
Europe and many other parts of the world, in gardens, vegetable patches and fields
Length
2 mm (0.08 in)
about
Top speed
about 0.01 km/h (0.01 mph)
On foot, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless to people. Gardeners do not like it because it weakens their plants.
What does it eat?
It pokes its tiny beak into stems and leaves and sucks the sweet sap. It feeds on more than 200 kinds of plants, like beans, beets, spinach, potatoes and poppies.
For real!Photo of Black bean aphid
Picture by Alvesgaspar. CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How long is it?

Black bean aphid about 2 mm long (0.08 in)A grain of rice about 6 mm (0.24 in)
3 of them in a row are as long as one grain of riceneeds 6 minutes to cross a dinner table

How big is Black bean aphid compared to YOU?

Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.

How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

In summer they are all girls. The mothers give birth to live babies without any dads.

2

One mother lives about 50 days and can have about 30 babies in that time.

3

Ants love the sweet, sticky honeydew that aphids make. In return, the ants chase away the aphids' enemies.

4

When it gets too crowded, babies with wings are born, and they fly off to find new plants.

5

In autumn the mothers lay tiny black eggs on bushes. The eggs can survive cold down to minus 32 degrees.

you asked

Most asked questions about Black bean aphid

?What does the black bean aphid eat?

It sucks sap from more than 200 kinds of plants, especially beans, beets and other vegetables.

?Why are there ants on my aphids?

The ants drink the sweet honeydew that aphids make, and they protect the aphids from ladybirds and other enemies.

?How big is a black bean aphid?

Only about 2 millimetres long, the size of a pinhead.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Aphis fabae
Group
True bugs and cicadas
Family
Aphididae
Classification
Insecta > Hemiptera > Aphididae
Lives on
Europe, Asia, Africa, North America, South America
Also known as
Blackfly, Bean aphid, Beet leaf aphid

Where the facts come from

  1. Black bean aphid (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by Alvesgaspar. CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.

If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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