Sunflower hulls contain a growth retardant, which is what kills off some specific plants. Some varieties of hosta will be affected more than others by this problem. I fed birds year round for many years, and compromised by putting only common, thin substanced, fast growing hostas in the area of the feeder. Most of these did very well, and the few that didn't thrive were moved to another location. The other problem with sunflower seed, and in fact any type of bird seed, is that this is one of the best ways to attract voles, mice, chipmunks, squirrels, rabbits, and deer to your garden. Not to mention raccoons, opossums, and wood rats. The good news is that you aren't likely to see the last three, as all are nocturnal, but the others will all come in for bird seed during the day, and are likely to appreciate the fine hosta buffet you are providing along with the birdseed. Due to the combination of growth retardant and the increase in vermin, I discontinued feeding birds a number of years ago. Now I plant flowering perennials that attract birds and butterflies, and occasionally put out some orange slices for the orioles, but no longer feed any seed.

Yes, they appear to be aphids. I've found the trick is to wait. The ladybug larva always seem to wait till there are MANY aphids . Some sort of great survival technique. Sometimes I get impatient and hit the aphids with a stream of water from the hose, other times I don't. Both ways results in total elimination of the aphids. Now that his knows the lady bugs will come, hopefully he will cut back on various killing sprays and not harm them and their other beneficial bug friends. That seems to be the key to the whole thing in my experience.

Esox, I wouldn't be flicking them on the ground. I would bet my top dollar that they are like squirrels on your bird feeder. You can shoo them off all you want, and they'll just come right back. If I was you, I'd be giving them swimming lessons. Or, if you want some entertainment from them, do like I used to do with june bugs: feed em to the fish. Collect them in a bug jar, and take them with you to a pond where there's blue gills. It is real fun, especially for the kids, to toss the beetles on the water's surface, and watch the fish snatch them up. I also used to have a 75g aquarium with warmouth bluegills, and they LOVED june bugs. As for the aphids, count your blessings, because once you get one, you get millions. Be careful if you ever buy any seedlings to plant, which I do for tomatos. They hitch a ride in, and then you are stuck with em. Joe

Since this is not a photo of your actual insects and the insect in the photo is much larger than a grain of salt, identifying your insect will be impossible without further information. (The stray bits of pollen on the petals above are in the size range of salt grains) It would take a lot of these tiny insects ganging up on your melons all at once to have a negative effect. I lightened your photo by increasing the gamma and saw what could be pollen grains on the wing covers, so the insect in the photo could actually be beneficial to pollination.