Macrosiphum euphorbiae May 2008 An Aphid giving birth is not something you see every day! Aphids reproduce by parthenogenesis, in other words, they clone themselves. I photographed this one on one of my tomato plants. The baby aphid struggled to get free of its mother. This photo was taken with a 105 mm macro lens.

This Parasitic wasp is laying her egg in an aphid! (Note the following photos of the aphid mummies) The wasp is doing my tomato plants a big favor by killing the aphids. However, at the rate the aphids reproduce, I think they are going to win that contest! Unfortunately, this photo is not as sharp as I would like, I took this macro image hand-held at 8:30 p.m. and there was a slight breeze, so all the elements were working against me!

The developing larva of the parasitic wasp can be seen inside this Aphid mummy.