Woolly apple aphid can be a serious indirect pest of apple, colonizing the branches, shoots and roots of trees. Feeding on roots has a greater adverse effect on the vigor and productivity of trees than does feeding on the arboreal portions. Previous studies have shown that arboreal woolly apple aphid colonies are commonly preyed upon by larvae of a specialist syrphid fly, Heringia calcarata. In 1869, Walsh and Riley anecdotally reported that larvae of an aphidophagous syrphid fed on root colonies of woolly apple aphid. Given their observations, we conducted laboratory-based studies of the behavior and feeding of H. calcarata larvae on subterranean colonies of woolly apple aphid.
Species 1: Diptera Syrphidae Heringia calcarata
Species 2: Homoptera Eriosomatidae Eriosoma lanigerum
Keywords: aphids, biological control
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