Aphids, also known as "plant lice", plunge their spherical mouths into plant tissues to suck out their juices. This weakens the leaves structure and causes them to curl and encapsulate the aphid cluster almost acting as a shelter.
Rose aphids multiply rapidly during the growing season. Female aphids can reproduce both sexually or asexually. In the springtime and throughout the growing season, females that reproduce asexually, will give birth to five female young. When giving birth, rose aphids produce live offspring unlike some other aphids that simply lay eggs. This is an important distinction because the rose aphid begins to feed immediately. It doesn't need to hatch.
Mature rose aphids are approximately 1/8 inch long. Their bodies are soft and pear-shaped and they are found in groups on new leaves or stems. They are either reddish-brown or a pale green. Ladybugs and insecticidal soaps are safe alternatives to using harmful and dangerous chemicals to rid your roses of these dangerous pests.
Ladybugs are predator insects that feed on the slower moving aphid. A ladybug will eat insects both as an adult and as an infant. The adult ladybug will make a meal of aphids and continue to do so during her reproductive cycle. A baby ladybug will eat about 400 aphids in their infant stage. This lasts three weeks. After 3 weeks of feeding, the baby attaches to a leaf or twig and is stagnant while it's wings and body mature. Once the ladybug matures, it will eat over 5,000 harmful insects during its brief lifetime.
Ladybugs are one of nature's most beneficial insects. They don't fly in the evening so if you buy them for your garden, release them at night, near water. This will give them the opportunity to search for food and water. They will seek out clustering aphids under leaves and on new growth. As food becomes scarce, they will move on.
Insecticidal soap will also kill aphids on roses. It is fast acting and will kill aphids without harming ladybugs. You will need to totally saturate the aphids on your roses focusing on the undersides of the young leaves and stems. This treatment will have to be repeated weekly or bi-weekly. Monitor your plants to determine the frequency required.
There are also preventative measures that you can take to keep aphids from infecting your roses. That is, you can attract beneficial insects by planting flowers that tempt them. (i.e., sweet alyssum, cilantro, dill, parsley and other herbs)
Most importantly, aphids thrive on weakened plants so it is important to keep your roses well watered, fertilized and of course exposed to a minimum of six hours of combined direct and indirect sunlight.
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