26 Farmers’ Bulletin 1128. 
THE BLACK PEACH APHIS.! 
The well-known black peach aphis is injurious to the twigs, shoots, 
and roots. It is shiny dark brown to black, with the young an 
amber color. 
The insect lives throughout the year on the roots of the 
Fic. 18,—The black peach aphis: Colonies on peach 
shoot in early spring. 
peach and is most injurious 
to peach growing on sandy 
soils. It is prevalent in 
portions of Maryland and in 
Delaware, New Jersey, and 
Michigan. Individuals migrate 
from the roots during the warm | 
periods in winter or in early 
spring and start colonies on the 
twigs and young shoots. (Fig. 
18.) Often these become so 
numerous as to cause the death 
of dormant-budded nursery 
trees (fig. 19) and do serious or 
fatal injury to young orchard 
trees. In mild climates the in- 
sects may exist all winter on 
the twigs, reproducing during 
periods of warmth, though the 
twigs are for the most part re- 
infested each year from the in- 
sects below the soil. 
The complaints of serious in- 
jury by this species on the 
roots of orchard peach trees, in 
the experience of the writers, 
have not been justified, the un- 
thrifty condition of the trees 
being in most cases due to other 
causes. 
SEASONAL HISTORY. 
The complete seasonal history 
of this species is not known. The 
number of young produced by a 
given parent varies greatly, de- 
pending upon weather condi- 
tions. Sometimes only one 
young aphis a day will be produced, with a total of 25 or 30 young 
to a mother, while under favorable conditions as many as 12 young 
1 Anuraphis persicae-niger (Smith). 
