Potato aphid on tomato
UC rates potato aphid as the more damaging aphid on tomato. It colonises the plant tops later in the season than green peach aphid (UC monitors it from bloom to early fruit set), and heavy colonies distort leaves and stems and leave honeydew and sooty mould. Mi-gene resistance no longer works as well as it once did, particularly against the pink form. Under glass use Aphidius ervi, not A. colemani, which cannot develop in this aphid.
At a glance
- Damage
- Large aphid on stems and trusses
- Type
- Sap feeding · virus vector
- Settings
- Under glass, Field, Garden
- Threshold
- 50–60% of sampled leaves infested (processing tomato, UC)
- Release
- Aphidius ervi
- Rate
- 0.25–2 /m² per release, weekly
How to confirm it
Large for an aphid at 2–4 mm, elongate, green (often with a darker stripe) or pink, with long legs and long pale cornicles. Under a lens, the bumps between the antennae slope outward; on green peach aphid they converge.
Identification, lifecycle, degree days and every control option are on the full Potato aphid profile. Not sure it is this pest? Answer four questions about the damage.
Work it out
How many do I need?
Carries Aphidius ervi and tomato through so nothing is re-entered. Open the calculator →