Enigmatic Aphid - Master of Survival

Enigmatic Aphid - Master of Survival

Dr Abe V Rotor

A colony of aphids (Aphis gossypii) on cabbage

By sheer number, you're statistically stable,

ruled by the multiplication table.

Ensconced in your host's leaves and flower,

you're safe from predator and sprayer.

Generations, one after another, under a roof,

your offspring in all stages the proof.

Winged, the males fly to visit other colonies

to share and bring in new genes.

Parasitic by habit, yet you spare your host

from untimely demise at all cost.

But when food supply threatens your colony,

your young is forced to mature early

By the mysterious process of paedogenesis;

and sexless parthenogenesis.

And by symbiosis with the fierce red ant,

food you give, protection its grant.

No other creature I know can you be compared,

your kind I think, will be spared

The morning after, from the Armageddon,

when the earth is barren and alone.

And life after people, you are likely a survivor,

all because Nature is in your favor . ~