Pest: Peach potato aphid

Identification
1 - 2 mm long, oval in shape and varies from green to pale yellow and pink and these can all occur in the same colony.

Symptoms
Aphids are generally dispersed on the underside of leaves and rarely form dense colonies.  Economic damage is usually as a result of the transmission of viruses.  Direct feeding damage which may cause some leaf distortion of young growth, may result in yield loss in extreme situations.

Life cycle
The winter host is peach or nectarines, otherwise overwintering is in the mobile stage on a range of other plants.  Winged aphids appear from May onwards and when crowded the aphids tend to walk to neighbouring plants which further spreads any carried virus.  Summer hosts are numerous and includes (over 40 plant families) including peas, sugar beet and brassicas .

Importance
This species is a major pest of potatoes, sugar beet, lettuce, brassicas and legumes and can transmit more than 120 plant viruses including potato leaf roll virus, potato virus Y etc. 

A recent link project in 2009 has established the following table of resistance to the main insecticide groups :

Resistance to insecticides

Threshold - In conjunction with other species.
In seed potatoes - A zero tolerance strategy is needed.
Ware crops - 5 per compound leaf was used for many years, but this may be too low.

Pest Traits

Season: Spring, Summer, Autumn

Crop: Sugar Beet, OSR, Potatoes

Damage: Leaf

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