The Forest Fairy: Aphids Reveal Hidden Harmonies

Amy Ray (whose music you might know from the Indigo Girls) was on a walk in the Georgia woods with her dogs when she passed a tree branch and saw hundreds of tiny, white, fluffy creatures doing a synchronized stadium wave. She was mesmerized. 

Turns out, she was looking at woolly aphids - small, defenseless bugs who have somehow figured out how to survive everything the forest throws at them. Resident Bug Correspondent Dr. Sammy Ramsey explains how: from the army of ants fighting their battles, to their power to clone themselves over and over, to their sap-eating ways that make plants scream chemical SOS signals through the air! 

What starts as a story about a fuzzy bug turns into one about a secret harmony running through the whole forest.

Plus, we try aphid poop honey!

Special thanks to Amy Ray and Ozie, and to Dr. Sammy Ramsey, whose new documentary Secrets of the Bees from National Geographic is out now.

Terrestrials was created by Lulu Miller with WNYC studios. This episode was produced by Alan Goffinski with sound design by Alan and Mira Burt-Wintonick. Sarah Sandbach is our Executive Producer. Our team also includes Ana González, Tanya Chawla, Natalia Ramirez, and Joe Plourde. Fact checking by Diane Kelly. 

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