Hop Lice...

[domejunky]

I've had these most years in my hops. Are they hop lice?

I think they eat aphids, so I leave them alone

[Jocky]

It's a ladybug larva. And yes, they'll devour aphids all day and night, so do whatever you can to encourage ladybirds to your hops.

[domejunky]

Brilliant! I love ladybirds, and they love my hops.

My cascades are 3/4 of the way up their lines, my Bramling Cross are just shooting - about 6 weeks behind - the cascades suffer with aphids, but by the time the Bramlings are up the ladybirds are all over them...

Pete

[Wonkydonkey]

Yeh, if there on your hops you must have aphids there as well. Ladybugs don't lay where there's no food.

But let's hope she's laid a few more babe's to munch on the green sap-sucking-buggers.

[jmc]

All mine have loads of aphids underneath the leaves this year. Green & black

Ladybirds are few and far between here.
Having said that they are all growing at a rate of knots.

[JamesF]

Much as I like ladybirds, that particular one in the photo I'd not be so pleased to see. It looks to me like a Harlequin Ladybird larva and whilst they'll munch all the aphids they can find, they are also apparently massively outcompeting native British ladybirds (the Harlequin is of Asian origin) and taking over from them. I've even read that they'll eat native ladybird larvae, butterfly eggs and lacewing larvae

James

[Jocky]

Yes, it's a Harlequin ladybird larva. Unfortunately they're everywhere in the country now, and they were only introduced in 2004 (I've heard that someone introduced them intentionally to combat aphids on crops?).