Header

Bird Cherry-Oat Aphid Rhopalosiphum padi


This rolled-up Bird Cherry leaf contained a colony of aphids. There were no alates present. A larger, darker aphid was visible when I uncurled the leaf (top left in second photo) and when I examined them the next day there was a green aphid among them (final photo) which I assume is a mature specimen of the same species. The pinkish-red suffusion around the base of the siphunculi on this individual was also shared by the darker one as well as some of the (older?) grey ones.

Rhopalosiphum padi Rhopalosiphum padi Rhopalosiphum padi Rhopalosiphum padi Rhopalosiphum padi Rhopalosiphum padi Rhopalosiphum padi
Bird Cherry-Oat Aphids Rhopalosiphum padi, Wendling Beck Environment Project (Norfolk, UK), 29th April 2023