Mandevilla vines are popular patio and outdoor plants with colorful flowers. As a tropical plant, it does well in warm environments.
If you grow Mandevilla vines indoors, they need bright indirect or curtain-filtered sunlight.
However, black and yellow aphid pests commonly attack Mandevilla plants and their flowers. These are tiny mandevilla yellow bugs that cause lots of damage if left untreated.
Aphid species are tiny vampires leaving a visible track of death behind after they suck the sap from the plants.
In this article, we’ll talk about proper mandevilla care to remove and prevent aphid infestation.
What Are Aphids?
Aphids are small insects with soft bodies that live in colonies. They particularly like sucking the plant juices out of fresh new growth on plants like Mandevilla.
Adults are typically wingless. Some aphids develop wings to travel to other plants when they get overcrowded or have insufficient food. This frequently occurs since Aphids generally feed in large groups.
Aphids reproduce fast and can produce many generations within one season. Females lay hundreds of eggs that hatch into “crawlers.”
For example, one Aphid can have tens of thousands of babies within weeks. So, it is important to get them under control as soon as possible.
There are different species of Aphids. The species can be white, yellow, light green, pink, brown, gray, or black. Look at an Aphid under a microscope, and you can see that some species appear to have a wooly coating or a waxy body.
These garden pests have pear-shaped bodies with long antennae and two short tubes from their rear called cornicles.
What Damage Do Aphids Cause?
You went to your garden and noticed your mandevillas had so much damage.
You might ask, what is eating my mandevilla?
If you see lots of yellow bugs on mandevilla, you likely have aphid infestation.
Aphids on Mandevillas can cause their leaves to turn yellow and stunt the plant’s natural growth.
Some leaf curl ash aphid varieties make the leaves curl using saliva when they eat the plants’ saps. You will also notice the stems becoming shriveled, with leaves dying and no flowers.
These insect pests also cause deformed flower buds and stunted growth.
Aphids weaken the plant and leave it vulnerable to other pests.
For example, aphids suck the phloem sap out of the young leaves and shoots of plants to consume large amounts of nitrogen.
In its wake, mandevilla aphids leave a sticky honeydew that attracts other predators to the plant, like ants. In addition, the honeydew often breeds the sooty mold fungus.
Yellow aphids on mandevilla also transmit plant viruses with their bite. In addition, they can carry potyviruses, which make up about 30 percent of the known plant viruses.
How To Get Rid Of Aphids On Mandevilla Plants?
So, how to get rid of aphids on mandevilla?
Many ways exist to control and stop aphids from harming your Mandevilla plants. A combination of both natural and chemical options may be needed.
Natural Ways To Control Garden Pest Aphids
There are a lot of different ways to get rid of bugs on mandevilla like aphids, naturally.
Since aphids feed off nitrogen, one preventative technique is using a fertilizer with lower nitrogen levels.
Aphids also have natural predators. Aphid predators include ladybugs, green lacewings, and birds that help control the Aphid population. Other insects, like parasitic wasps and syrphid (hover) fly larvae, can also be introduced for control.
A strong spray from a garden hose will knock Oleander aphids (Aphis nerii) off Mandevillas.
Or, mix soapy water using a liquid dish soap such as Castile to spray aphids and kill the eggs. Don’t use soap products with degreasers or moisturizers when using this natural technique.
Stores also offer safe insecticidal soaps. These sprays don’t hurt other insects like ladybugs or bees.
Another great option is using essential oils like neem oil, which is a natural repellent for mandevilla aphids.
Make a spray solution by mixing Neem oil in water by following the package instructions.
Spraying Tip: Always cover the undersides of leaves where aphids love to collect. Neem can also help control whiteflies.
You can also use a mixture of other essential oils, such as peppermint, clove, rosemary, and thyme. Mix a few drops of each with water in a spray bottle to control aphids naturally.
A preventative natural solution to protect Mandevilla vines is to plant host plants that attract aphids. Or plant varieties that repel aphids or plant varieties that attract beneficial insects.
- Plants that attract aphids: Zinnias, dahlias, cosmos, asters, mustard, and nasturtium
- Plants that repel aphids: Catnip, garlic, chives, onion, and allium
- Plants that attract beneficial insects to control aphids: Clover, mint, dill, fennel, and yarrow
Other low-toxicity bug control solutions include horticultural oil, sticky traps, soap sprays, and diatomaceous earth to control aphids and common mandevilla pests and diseases.
Using alcohol also works fine in removing mandevilla bugs.
You may also try companion planting to keep mandevilla aphids away, such as catnip.
Chemical Ways To Control Aphid Colonies
Are there other ways how to get rid of bugs on mandevilla plant?
Pesticides are also available to help keep an aphid infestation from consuming your Mandevilla.
Here are a few top choices down at the garden center:
- Ortho Flower, Fruit, and Vegetable Insect Killer
- Permethrin SFR
- Spectracide
- FenvaStar
While aphids may be hard to detect since they are so small, they are easy to treat.
There are a lot of solutions to remove yellow aphids on mandevilla, such as knocking the pests off plants by spraying a stream of water from a garden hose or applying strong pesticides.