Mealy plum aphid facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Hyalopterus pruni |
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| Colony of Hyalopterus pruni on Phragmites australis | |
| Scientific classification | |
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Sternorrhyncha
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Aphididae
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Aphidinae
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| Genus: |
Hyalopterus
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| Species: |
H. pruni
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| Binomial name | |
| Hyalopterus pruni (Geoffroy, 1762)
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The Hyalopterus pruni, also known as the Mealy Plum Aphid, is a tiny insect. It belongs to a group of insects called aphids. These small creatures are true bugs that feed by sucking sap from plants.
Contents
Where Do Mealy Plum Aphids Live?
You can find the Mealy Plum Aphid almost anywhere in the world. This means it has a cosmopolitan distribution.
What Does a Mealy Plum Aphid Look Like?
Adult Mealy Plum Aphids that don't have wings are usually about 1.5 to 2.6 millimeters long. That's pretty small! They have a narrow, oval body and a pointy tail. Their antennae, which are like feelers, are quite short, about half the length of their body.
Most of these aphids are a pale bluish-green color, and their eyes are red. Sometimes, you might even see some pinkish ones in a group. They are covered in a white, powdery wax, which makes them look gray or light green. This waxy coating gives them their "mealy" name.
The Life Cycle of a Mealy Plum Aphid
You can find Mealy Plum Aphids from spring all the way through fall. For many generations (about 3 to 13), the adult aphids stay without wings.
Moving to New Homes
Winged adults usually appear in June or July. These winged aphids fly to different plants, like reed grasses or cattails. The wingless adults, however, stay on their original host plants.
The winged adults lay their eggs on the main host plants. These eggs then spend the winter close to the flower buds. When spring arrives and the buds start to bloom, the eggs hatch.
How They Eat and What They Eat
Mealy Plum Aphids are sap-feeders. This means they use their mouthparts like a straw to suck out the sugary sap from plants.
They often live on fruit trees like plum, peach, apricot, and almond trees. They also like to feed on plants such as Phragmites communis (common reed) and Arundo donax (giant reed), as well as other reed grasses and cattails.
When these aphids feed, they produce a sticky, sweet liquid called honeydew. This honeydew stays on the plants and attracts many other insects, like ants and wasps, who love to eat it.
