Green peach aphid on lettuce & leafy greens
On lettuce the damage is contamination: aphids stunt seedlings and end up in heads bound for market. Infestations start on the lower leaves and move up over the plant, and once in the heart they are hard to reach — UC IPM advises treating just before heading if many plants are infested. It also carries lettuce viruses including turnip mosaic and beet western yellows. In field lettuce UC finds natural enemies rarely control large spring or autumn populations.
At a glance
- Damage
- Yellowed, curled young leaves, honeydew, spreads viruses
- Type
- Sap feeding · virus vector
- Settings
- Under glass, Field, Garden, Indoors
- Threshold
- Over 20 per plant before heading (commercial)
- Release
- Aphidius colemani
- Rate
- 0.25–4 /m² per release under glass, at least three releases
How to confirm it
Confirm with a 10× hand lens: the antennae rise from two bumps on the front of the head that lean towards each other, leaving a notch between them. Colonies gather at growing points and under young leaves.
Identification, lifecycle, degree days and every control option are on the full Green peach aphid profile. Not sure it is this pest? Answer four questions about the damage.
Work it out
How many do I need?
Carries Aphidius colemani and lettuce & leafy greens through so nothing is re-entered. Open the calculator →