Rosy apple aphid

Host plants: Apple and plantain (Plantago lanceolate Linnaeus andPlantago major Linnaeus).

Morphology: The bodies of the nymphs are pink, becoming darker as they mature. The apterous and alate females are grey-brown to black, with fluffy wax, the siphunculi and cauda are black; body length 1.8-2.5 mm.

Life cycle: During spring the aphid initially attacks apple sprouts and raises 4-7 generations by viviparous parthenogenesis. In summer the pest leaves this host, probably staying and reproducing on plantain till autumn, as in Egypt and Europe. In winter the aphid returns to apple, whereon it mates and reproduces by viviparity. The threshold of development was caculaterd to be at 4.5ºC and its highest fecundity, 134 progeny/female, was at 15ºC, producing only 37 at 26ºC.