Pear-umbrella Brown Aphid - Garden Enemy

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

The pear-umbrella brown aphid actively damages the pear and is found almost everywhere. The leaves attacked by these parasites bend along the central veins with their lower surfaces inward - something like gall-like swellings is obtained, in which harmful larvae subsequently live and feed. Such leaves are usually painted in reddish or yellow shades. Sometimes rusty spots can form on the leaves. As a rule, pear-umbrella brown aphids cause quite serious damage to the crop

Meet the pest

The size of the wide-oval females of the pear-umbrella brown aphid is about 2.6 mm. Their body is painted in dark brown tones, and the legs, tubules, prothorax, antennae and heads of pests are black. Winged parthenogenetic females grow up to 2.4 mm and are endowed with black shiny breasts and heads, as well as antennae equipped with six segments. In the middle of their dark brown abdomen, you can see black specks. The length of amphigonic brownish-brown oval females is about 1.4 mm. Their light-colored antennae are equipped with five segments, their tails are brownish, and their brown tubes are framed with black tips.

Males of pear-umbrella brown aphids grow up to 1, 2 mm. Their flat bodies taper slightly towards the tops. The size of the eggs is in the range of 0.4 - 0.5 mm. Initially, they have a light yellow color, and after three or four days they turn black and acquire a characteristic shine.

Fertilized eggs, as a rule, overwinter in cracks in the bark, and the revival of larvae is noted already at the start of bud opening. After twenty-five to thirty days, they turn into parthenogenetic females, which manage to revive from fifty to eighty larvae in just thirteen to fifteen days. The larvae that have completed their development are transformed into winged migrants, which fly over the hogweed or parsnip for additional nutrition. Parthenogenetic wingless females, which are the offspring of these migrants, form huge colonies on the root collars of vegetation. And in August and September, on the aforementioned hogweed with parsnips, you can see both wingless and winged females. Winged individuals immediately migrate to pears and revive there larvae - from ten to twenty-three. At the end of their development, these larvae are transformed into amphigonic females. And wingless females revive the larvae on secondary host plants, transforming over time into winged males. As soon as these males get to the females, they mate, after which the females lay from one to four eggs that remain to winter.

The pear-umbrella brown aphid noticeably reduces the yield of pear trees, and also greatly weakens them. The trees weakened as a result of her attacks often die with the onset of winter. Also, this pest quite strongly affects leaf and fruit buds.

How to fight

Fatty shoots together with basal shoots, especially often inhabited by pear-umbrella brown aphids, must be cut out and destroyed. A serious weed control should also be carried out.

If for every ten centimeters of shoots there are ten or two dozen eggs, in early spring in the breeding centers of voracious parasites, before the buds bloom, treatments are carried out with various insecticides. The same treatments are carried out in the event that the density of colonization by harmful insects begins to exceed five colonies for every hundred leaves. Fufanon, Kinmiks and Karbatsin have proven themselves especially well in the fight against these parasites.

Connoisseurs of environmentally friendly control methods can, throughout the growing season, spray pear trees with a solution of green soap, as well as infusions of dandelion, yarrow, garlic, onion husks, potato tops, pharmacy chamomile or tobacco. Spraying with a decoction of tomato leaves also helps to achieve a good effect.