Organic Control MethodsĬontrol is not often warranted, especially on mature, healthy trees and shrubs. Often, the distinguishing feature of aphids is the two tailpipes (cornicles) on the end of their abdomens, but they are short and often covered by fluff on woolly species. But mealybugs often have tails, and both mealybugs and scales are flat while aphids are pear shaped. They are easily mistaken for mealybugs and scale insects. Look out for shiny, sticky honeydew and an accumulation of waxy shed skins on the upper side of leaves. The downside is, once the damage is visible, management options are often limited or rendered ineffective.Ĭheck the undersides of leaves for woolly aphid populations. Keeping a close eye out for these pests before their populations – and the damage they cause – gets out of control is essential for effective management. Thus, populations can explode very quickly. One of my professors described this as giving birth to live, pregnant young. Some species will hatch before winter, and spend the season as nymphs on the host plant’s roots.įemales can produce hundreds of offspring during their one-month lifespan, and these offspring reach sexual maturity in four to ten days. These mate, and each female lays one egg that will overwinter and hatch in the spring, producing another all-female generation. In the late summer or early fall, a second wave of winged females head back to the primary host, and produce a generation of males and females. They will spend a few generations feeding and reproducing, without males, on the primary host plant.Ī generation of winged females will fly to the secondary host soon after, and they will spend most of the rest of the season feeding and reproducing there. Often, they lay eggs on the primary host, the eggs overwinter in the cracks of bark, females hatch in the spring, and they begin to produce live offspring. Most of the woolly aphids have two primary hosts, which they alternate feeding and reproducing on. Large populations can cause shriveled leaves, and the honeydew they produce can make vehicles, sidewalks, and any lawn furniture positioned under the maple or alder trees sticky.īut these issues aren’t usually serious enough to warrant control. Even their eggs are woolly.īesides looking a little strange or even ugly on the plant, this species doesn’t cause significant damage. This is the super fluffy species you may already be familiar with, and they look like pieces of cotton floating through the air when they’re flying, or fungi when they’re congregated on twigs. The woolly alder aphid, Prociphilus tessellatus, feeds on silver maple in the spring, and alder in the summer. On the serviceberry, where they are found underground, they are light blue to black, and may have some waxy fluff on their thoraxes. On the elm, the adult has a red-orange body with some white sticky bubbles, or it may be covered with a waxy cotton-like coating. On Saskatoon berry bushes, especially young plants, root feeding can result in stunting and reduced berry production, and the damage can be fatal. On elms, feeding causes the edges of new leaves to roll inwards and form a gall-like swelling where they hide out. Woolly elm aphids, Eriosoma americanum, feed on American elm foliage in the spring, and the roots of serviceberry (also known as Saskatoon berry) as an alternate host in the summer. Their feeding causes galls to form, and these cracked and swollen areas on branches – perfect entry points for diseases such as rots and canker – are the primary reason these insects are such serious pests, and why they are sometimes called American blight aphids. These have bluish-black bodies under their white fluff, and they feed on the base of new shoots, branches, roots, and trunk wounds. The woolly apple aphid, Eriosoma lanigerum, is a common and serious apple pest worldwide.Īs its name suggests, it loves apples of all types, including ornamental crabapples, but it will also feed on elm, alder, mountain ash, hawthorn, serviceberry, and pyracantha. Often, the host gives the best clues to help identify what species is attacking, as the insects themselves can look quite similar. There are several common species to look out for on your plants. Woolly aphids have three-millimeter-long, pear-shaped bodies that are covered in a white, waxy, fluffy coating. Like other sap-sucking pests, these insects exude sweet honeydew, which attracts ants, and an ugly black sooty mold can grow on stickied leaf surfaces.
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