Woolly Apple Aphids
Mike Basedow, Tree Fruit Specialist
Eastern New York Commercial Horticulture
Woolly apple aphids have been showing up in increasing numbers the past few years in Eastern New York orchards. In addition to apple, its hosts include American elm, hawthorn, and mountain ash. It overwinters as an egg in bark cracks and crevices, or as a nymph on roots underground and in various protected locations on trees. WAA is attracted to the base of root suckers and around pruning wounds and cankers on limbs and trunks, and colonizes both above-ground parts of the apple tree as well as the roots. In the spring, the nymphs, which are reddish-brown with a bluish-white waxy covering, crawl up from the roots to initiate aerial colonies. These initially build up on the inside of the canopy on sites such as wounds or pruning scars, and later become numerous in the outer portion of the tree canopy, usually during late July to early August.
Woolly Apple Aphids (pdf; 155KB)
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Upcoming Events
Rulfs Orchard Vegetable and Berry Field Meeting
August 4, 2026
Peru, NY
Join CCE vegetable specialists Elisabeth Hodgdon and Chuck Bornt for a vegetable and berry field meeting at Rulfs Orchard, in Peru, NY. We'll tour the farm's fields and talk about integrated pest management of sweet corn and cucurbit crops. Then, we'll view a drone demonstration and discuss new technologies for pesticide application and spotted wing drosophila management in berries. Light refreshments will be provided. A rain date will be announced if adverse weather is predicted.
Field Day at Philia Farm
August 6, 2026
Johnstown, NY
Visit organic seed production trials and tour the farm to see small-scale production systems at work, including tarping, cover cropping, and the use of assorted mulches and covers to modify the growing environment.
Capital Region Orchard Twilight Meeting
August 11, 2026
Rexford, NY
Join the ENYCHP and Cornell scientists on August 11 for the Capital Region Orchard Twilight meeting in Saratoga! We will be touring Bowman Orchards and reviewing seasonal recommendations for pests and diseases for apples, plums, and berries, as well discussing crop insurance.
NYSDEC Pesticide Applicator Recertification Credits: 1.25 in categories 22, 1A, & 10. Refreshments will be provided.
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