Insect Gallery

Name: Aphids - Black-Margined

Latin Name: Black-Margined Aphid, Monellia caryyella

Description: Black-margined pecan aphids are small, soft bodied insects with piercing sucking mouthparts. Black-margined aphids are characteristically yellow in appearance. Tolerance to aphids, particularly the black aphid, varies among cultivars.

Insects Life Cycle: Black-margined pecan aphids overwinter as eggs. Wingless females hatch in March and migrate to the newly emerging pecan leaves. These females give birth to living young without mating. This first field progeny are all female and give birth to subsequent generations of aphids without mating. In early fall, winged females and males mate, and the females lay eggs that will overwinter. There are 20-30 generations of aphids per year.

Insects Symptons: Black-margined pecan aphids can significantly reduce pecan yields. Black-margined aphids suck photosynthates from leaves, excrete "honeydew", and reduce the flow of nutrients to nuts. Damaging infestations of aphids can cause whole leaves to turn yellow or chlorotic and possibly drop. Black aphid damage is characterized by small, chlorotic areas on the leaflets. Heavy infestations cause rapid leaf drop. Aphids can cause premature leaf drop, reduced nut quality, and subsequent yield reductions the following season.