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They're everywhere. Many people asking what they are. I remember them from the past few years but this year they seem more plentiful. Maybe I am just noticing them more. ?

 

http://whnt.com/2013/09/09/see...lo-to-woolly-aphids/

 

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) – It’s the question of the day, without a doubt.

“What are those little white bugs flying all around?” asked Paula Neely Yerby.

What are these tiny tiny tiny white flies I keep seeing?” Sam Moore asked.  ”Under a magnifying glass they look like miniature house flies that have been rolled in flour or covered in white mold.  Yes they bite.  Not often but every now and then they bite.

“Any of your gardening experts know what those little white flying bugs are? No matter where in Huntsville we go it like an invasion, you see white “flakes” floating around like tiny snow,” asked Linda Broglan.

A few of WHNT News 19″s employees spotted them too.  We checked with Ken Creel of the Madison County Extension Office for an answer.  He immediately knew what we were referring to, and says what you’re seeing is the Asian Hackberry Woolly Aphid.

“They’re common for this area,” Creel said.  ”They’ve calmed down considerably, but this is the worst we’ve seen in years.”

Asian hackberry woolly aphids on the back of a leaf [http://ag.auburn.edu)

Asian hackberry woolly aphids on the back of a leaf (http://ag.auburn.edu)

Creel said the aphids were accidentally introduced in Florida in the mid 1990s.  We’ve seen them in Alabama since 1998 or 1999, but only sporadically.

“This year, they’re really an issue in town,” Creel said.

The aphids feed on hackberry trees.  So, people who have those are seeing sticky residue on cars, patio furniture and decks.  The aphids feed on sugar from the trees and “it goes in one end and out the other,” Creel said.

Creel said there are different aphids currently feeding on crepe myrtles, pecan and maple trees, too, also leaving sticky residue.

Creel said it will likely be this way until October or November, when those trees lose their leaves.

 

 


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"Words have no power to impress the mind without the exquisite horror of their reality." Edgar Allan Poe.

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"There is no organic product that can be applied to control the pest, and releases of the beneficial insects lacewings, ladybugs, and praying mantis had no apparent effect.

 

“You could just pull the tree out of the pot, and it would be white with woolly apple aphid,” he said. “We were going to cull the trees out. I didn’t want to sell a tree that had woolly apple aphid.”

But as he examined the trees, he realized that he’d have hardly any trees left to sell. He recalled seeing results of research by Dr. Elizabeth Beers, entomologist at Washington State University, showing that planting alyssum could help attract syrphid flies (from the insect family Syrphidae), which are good predators of woolly apple aphid. He ordered 25 pounds of alyssum seed for about $4 to $5 a pound from a company in Texas, and planted seed in the pots around the trees. The alyssum grew well and took over the entire pots.

 

Sure enough, syrphid flies, which feed on nectar, were attracted to the vibrant white flowers, and the young syrphid fly larvae preyed on the woolly apple aphids. “It knocked the population down drastically,” Craver said. “I was really encouraged by the results.”

 

http://www.goodfruit.com/Good-...-woolly-apple-aphid/

Originally Posted by direstraits:

"There is no organic product that can be applied to control the pest, and releases of the beneficial insects lacewings, ladybugs, and praying mantis had no apparent effect.

 

“You could just pull the tree out of the pot, and it would be white with woolly apple aphid,” he said. “We were going to cull the trees out. I didn’t want to sell a tree that had woolly apple aphid.”

But as he examined the trees, he realized that he’d have hardly any trees left to sell. He recalled seeing results of research by Dr. Elizabeth Beers, entomologist at Washington State University, showing that planting alyssum could help attract syrphid flies (from the insect family Syrphidae), which are good predators of woolly apple aphid. He ordered 25 pounds of alyssum seed for about $4 to $5 a pound from a company in Texas, and planted seed in the pots around the trees. The alyssum grew well and took over the entire pots.

 

Sure enough, syrphid flies, which feed on nectar, were attracted to the vibrant white flowers, and the young syrphid fly larvae preyed on the woolly apple aphids. “It knocked the population down drastically,” Craver said. “I was really encouraged by the results.”

 

http://www.goodfruit.com/Good-...-woolly-apple-aphid/

 

Thanks for that link dire. Interesting stuff. 

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