[tode]

Corn's finished, have been digging up stalks. On 3 or 4 of them, the roots were covered in pink-coloured aphids (Pinkfly  ) , with a lot of red ants running back and forth.
I've often seen ants herding greenfly and blackfly on plants, but NEVER on the roots 
Whats going on ?
The "infected" corn was at one end of theb lock, and they were a lot smaller than the rest.

[beansticks]

Never noticed that before,will check the roots as and when they come out.Cheers

[tode]

What worries me is that
a)  you don't see em   
b)  presume only way of treating corn is with systemic insecticide 

[gillie]

Are they aphids  or are they ant larvae?  Have you dug up an ants' nest?

Gillie

[tode]

Definitely "green"fly (squidged a few). If you click on pic, you can see their little whiskers, or whatever. 

[DavidT]

They are root aphids. Nothing strange or unusual.

[tode]

Hi DavidT,  I've tried googling RHS root aphid, but not very helpful 
I've been gardening quite a while, and never seen that  :blink:

Do you know how they work? How do they get down in roots?
How do you know you've got em  ? (Apart from plants keeling over).

I'd chopped up roots and stalks for compost: maybe thats not such a good idea, if they can live underground.

[DavidT]

Tode, Google root aphid, there is a lot of info.

[Salmo]

I have seen root aphids in overwintered lettuce and in carrots. Probably crop specific?

[tode]

After more googling, seems the only solutions are systemics or drenching the ground with  insecticide. Not particularly keen on either. 
The affected corn was only about 1/2 the height of the healthy, and had stunted cobs.
A lot of the advice says to inspect the roots, but honestly can't see myself scratching around the garden -- got enough to do as it is.

Anybody got 1st hand experience and practical solution
Worried.