Agricultural crops include sweet potato and tomato. Sowthistles are common weeds with no economic importance except for serving as the principal reservoir of several viruses. This aphid occasionally feeds on papaya but does not develop on it. It is widespread in Australia, Central Asia, Europe, Hawaii, India, Japan, Mediterranean, the Middle East, New Zealand, North and South America and Pakistan. These aphids prefer to feed on the underside of young leaves but spread to other parts of the plant if population densities are high.
Aphids feed by sucking sap from their hosts.
Feeding on Ribes spp. Although the sowthistle aphid does not develop on lettuce and papaya, winged individuals feed on these hosts and transmit viruses to these plants. It is this feature that makes this pest economically significant on these crops. This aphid is a vector of about 12 non-persistent viruses such as lettuce mosaic virus, and several persistent viruses including lettuce necrotic yellows, papaya ringspot virus and sowthistle yellow vein. Developmental time is slightly faster in Hawaii.