Mealy plum aphid

Description. Wingless mealy plum aphid adults are pale green or whitish green with three dark green longitudinal stripes on their backs. Their bodies are covered with a white mealy wax. The winged form has a dark thorax and transverse bands on the abdomen. Mealy plum aphids are often found inside the slightly curled-up plum leaves. After overwintering in the egg stage near the bases of buds, the aphids hatch during bloom and develop into wingless adults. They will have from three to thirteen generations on plums. Then winged adults appear in June and July as warm weather approaches and they migrate to reed grass or cattails. Wingless aphids that remain on vigorous growth of plum trees throughout the summer will not be capable of laying overwintering eggs in fall. Only the offspring of the winged adults that return to plum trees in fall lay the overwintering eggs.
Damage. This aphid builds up in large numbers on the undersurface of leaves in spring and causes leaves to become slightly curled and stunted. High populations can devitalize the tree, retard growth, and reduce sugar content of fruit. Honeydew dropping on fruit can cause fruit cracking.