Greenfly

/ɡɹˈiːnfla‍ɪ/

/ɡɹˈiːnflaɪ/

[noun]

Greenfly

[NOUN]

a small green aphid that infests gardens and crops

What is a "greenfly"?

A greenfly is a small insect belonging to the superfamily Aphidoidea. It is characterized by its soft body and sucking mouthparts, which it uses to extract sap from plants. Greenflies are typically found in large numbers on the stems, leaves, and buds of various plants. They reproduce rapidly, giving rise to colonies that can cause damage to crops and ornamental plants by depleting their resources and spreading diseases. Greenflies come in different colors, including green, yellow, and black. They secrete a sticky substance called honeydew, which can attract other insects like ants. While greenflies are considered pests in agriculture and gardening, they also serve as a food source for beneficial insects and can contribute to ecological balance.

Examples

1. Your paperclip maximizer goes to war with a terraforming machine, like the Greenfly from Alastair Reynolds’ Revelation Space series that wants to transform everything into habitats for life.

2. You might create terraforming von Neumann probes or grey goo designed to turn entire solar systems into Dyson Swarms for future colonists and have that mutate in design or intent with disastrous results - we see an example of this in Alsatair Reynolds’ Revelation Space series where von Neumann terraforming machines - the Greenfly - meant to create trillions of plant-rich habitats around a star run amok turning everything into such habitats so that stars turned green with the only light reflected away being those bouncing off green leaves.

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