Apple Woolly Aphid
Eriosoma lanigerum
📖 Description
Apple Woolly Aphid (AWA) is a serious pest of apple across the Indian subcontinent, particularly in Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, and Uttarakhand. The pest is unusual in that it attacks both aerial parts (trunk wounds, water sprouts, branch crotches) and underground roots, making it exceptionally difficult to control. Aerial colonies appear as fluffy white woolly masses, while root colonies cause swollen galls that weaken the tree. The pest reproduces primarily by parthenogenesis (no mating) in apple-growing regions, allowing populations to explode rapidly. Use of resistant rootstocks (Malling-Merton series bred specifically for woolly aphid resistance) is the most effective long-term management strategy. Classical biological control with the parasitic wasp Aphelinus mali has also been successful in many apple-growing regions.
⚠️ Symptoms to watch for
- White woolly masses on bark wounds, water sprouts, branch crotches, and exposed roots, swollen and galled tissues on roots and bark, stunted tree growth, dieback of branches, reduced fruit size and quality, tree decline in heavy root infestation, yield loss 20-40%
🩹 Treatment
- Prune and destroy water sprouts, apply neem oil 5ml/L with sticker on colonies, drench soil with systemic insecticides for root colonies, paint pruning wounds with Bordeaux paste, conserve parasitic wasps
🌿 Organic treatments
- Prune and destroy water sprouts and suckers, apply neem oil 5 ml/L with sticker on aerial colonies, paint pruning wounds with Bordeaux paste to prevent colonization, apply Lecanicillium lecanii @ 5 g/L, release Aphelinus mali parasitoid @ 5000/ha, apply 5% NSKE, use resistant rootstocks (Malling-Merton series)
🧪 Chemical treatments
- Drench soil with Imidacloprid 17.8 SL @ 1 ml/L for root colonies, spray Dimethoate 30 EC @ 1.5 ml/L on aerial colonies, apply Chlorpyrifos 20 EC @ 2 ml/L, Acephate 75 SP @ 1 g/L, Thiamethoxam 25 WG @ 0.4 g/L (apply at early colonization stage)
🛡️ Prevention
- Use resistant rootstocks (Malling-Merton MM.106, MM.111), paint pruning wounds with Bordeaux paste to prevent colonization, prune and destroy water sprouts and suckers, maintain tree vigor through proper nutrition and irrigation, inspect orchards weekly for early colonies, conserve Aphelinus mali parasitoid by avoiding broad-spectrum insecticides, avoid injuries to bark during cultivation, remove alternate host (elm) from orchard vicinity
🪴 Affected plants
- Apple (Primary), Pear, Hawthorn, Mountain Ash, Elm (alternate host)
🦋 Natural predators
- Aphelinus mali, Syrphid Fly Larvae, Ladybird Beetles, Green Lacewings, Spiders
🌱 Host plants
- Malus domestica, Pyrus communis, Crataegus spp., Ulmus spp. (alternate)
🔄 Lifecycle
- Reproduces entirely by parthenogenesis in apple-growing regions, with females giving birth to 50-100 live nymphs.
- Nymphs mature in 10-15 days and begin reproducing.
- Winged forms appear in fall, dispersing to new trees.
- Adults live 20-30 days.
- Total life cycle 12-20 days; 15-20 overlapping generations per year.
- Overwinters as nymphs on roots.
📅 Season
- Year-round, peaks Apr-Oct during active tree growth
🔎 Appearance
- Small, purplish-brown aphids covered with white waxy wool-like filaments that give infested bark a fluffy white appearance.
- They form dense colonies on roots, trunk wounds, water sprouts, and branch crotches of apple trees.
- Winged forms appear in fall.
💥 Damage level
- High
🔁 Reproduction rate
- Rapid
🗺️ Geographic regions
- Indian Subcontinent
- Worldwide Apple-Growing Regions
Have an Insect to Identify?
Upload or take a photo of an insect on your plant and our AI will identify it and recommend treatments.
📷 Diagnose from Image