The More Important Apple Insects. 93 
called “ aphis apples” (fig. 48). On young trees the aphids often feed upon the 
tender shoots, which frequently become twisted, sometimes making a complete 
loop. The rosy aphis is believed to have been introduced from Europe and is 
now commonly found in prac 
tically all of the apple districts 
of the United States. The only 
known food plants are the apple 
and its alternate summer hosts, 
the plantains. 
The winter is passed in the egg 
stage on the tree, and the so- 
called stem mothers begin to 
hatch about the time the buds 
burst and immediately settle 
upon the unfolding leaves. Sev- 
eral generations of the rosy 
aphis are produced on the apple 
and these feed upon the foliage 
and fruit as soon as it is formed, 
causing the leaves to become 
curled and deformed. Both 
winged and wingless individu- 
als are produced, the former migrating when mature to the plantains. The 
Wingless viviparous* female is rosy brown, becoming purplish with age, 
and is covered with a powdery bloom. The spring migrant is brownish green 
with black head and thorax and transparent wings. .The abdomen has a large 
black patch on the center of the back and the appendages are partly black 
and partly yellowish brown. In the 
fall, migrants develop on the plantains 
and these return to the apple and pro- 
duce sexual females, which deposit the 
overwintering eggs, usually on the 
twigs or in the axil of the buds and 
occasionally on the larger limbs or in 
the bark crevices. When first deposited 
the eggs are pale green. changing later 
to a glossy black. 
On account of its leaf-curling habits 
the rosy aphis is difficult to control. 
Best results can be obtained if a spray 
application is made in the spring period 
when the aphids are clustered on the 
green tips of the swelling buds. 
Where this aphid is usually trouble- 
some the trees should be very thor- 
oughly sprayed at this time with a con- 
tact insecticide, preferably 40 per cent 
FiG. 42.—Work of rosy apple aphis on icotine sulphate at the rate of 
fruit and foliage of the apple. three-eighths of a pint to 50 gal- 
lons of water, to which should be 
added about 2 pounds of soap previously dissolved in hot water. If the San 
Jose or other scale insects requiring a dormant treatment are present, the 
orchardist may delay spraying for them until the proper time to treat the apple 
Fig. 41.—Work of the serpentine fruit-miner. 
*Viviparous females are those that bring forth young alive, the eggs developing and 
hatching within the body ofthe parent. 
