{"id":1000,"date":"2013-09-06T11:18:59","date_gmt":"2013-09-06T15:18:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sicloot.com\/blog\/?p=1000"},"modified":"2014-04-07T01:15:03","modified_gmt":"2014-04-07T05:15:03","slug":"arboretum-woolly-alder-aphids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/sicloot.com\/blog\/2013\/09\/arboretum-woolly-alder-aphids\/","title":{"rendered":"Arboretum: Woolly Alder Aphids"},"content":{"rendered":"

I passed a European alder tree (Alnus glutinosa<\/i>) on Willow Path at the Arnold Arboretum a couple days ago (accession 1399-73*B), and noticed that many of its branches were covered in a white fungus\/mold-like substance. Upon closer inspection, the mold moved!<\/p>\n

This was no mold. It was an infestation of woolly alder aphids<\/a> (Prociphilus tessellatus<\/i>).<\/p>\n

\"European
European alder branch with a woolly aphid colony.<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\n<\/p>\n

Woolly alder aphids feed on the sap of alder bushes and trees in the summer. They secrete a white waxy thread-like substance that covers their abdomens and the branches they feed on.<\/p>\n

\"Aphids
Aphids secreting white waxy substance.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Initially, the aphids that are born have no wings. They simply remain in place feeding. On this particular alder tree, I found aphids using the trunk as a highway, scurrying up and down. They lacked large amounts of the white wax that aphids attached to the branches produced.<\/p>\n

\"Wingless
Wingless aphids roaming the tree.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As fall approaches, these aphids produce winged forms. They fly off to red or silver maple trees where they lay eggs. The nymphs feed on maple sap and eventually produce a winged generation that flies off in search of an alder. More on their life cycle at The Adirondack Almanack<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Winged
Winged woolly alder aphid<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The wingless forms start off small in comparison to the winged forms (see photo below) but increase in size as they feed.<\/p>\n

\"Wingless
Wingless and winged aphids<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As with other aphids, these ones secrete sweet honeydew, which attracts ants and wasps. I observed a wasp, possibly a yellow jacket, land near an aphid colony.<\/p>\n

\"Wasp
Wasp feeding on aphid honeydew<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As extensive as these colonies appear, most sources I checked say that they do not cause lasting harm<\/a> to the host tree.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I passed a European alder tree (Alnus glutinosa) on Willow Path at the Arnold Arboretum a couple days ago (accession 1399-73*B), and noticed that many of its branches were covered in a white fungus\/mold-like substance. Upon closer inspection, the mold … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[408,409,407,7,190,86,493,5,305],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/sicloot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1000"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/sicloot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/sicloot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sicloot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sicloot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1000"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/sicloot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1000\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1426,"href":"http:\/\/sicloot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1000\/revisions\/1426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/sicloot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1000"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sicloot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1000"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sicloot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1000"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}