Look in your hat before you put it on!

 Rosy Peach Aphids Inside Hat

I had pulled off my wide-brimmed straw-braid hat, and noticed a discolored thread inside the head. I scratched it, and it didn’t move so I didn’t think anything more of it, and returned the hat to my head.

The next day, I grabbed the hat off its storage place on the deck. Thank goodness that I happened to glance inside before putting it on. There was a large gang of small red bugs milling around the discolored thread.

Yikes! That “thread” was a row of egg cases. The hatch-lings were rosy peach aphids (see my blog of August 2, 2012). Definitely nothing I want between my head and hat. That’s why I say, “Look in your hat before you put it on!”

 Rosy Peach Aphids and Line of Egg Cases Inside Hat