Growers who are considering chemical controls need to weigh the costs of those treatments against the uncertainty surrounding how they will perform. Wedberg suggests growers not consider insecticides unless their fields show yellowed or cupped leaves. Because the soybean aphid is new to the United States, there are no insecticides registered for control. In fact, no insecticide islabeled for control of aphids in soybeans. However, it is legal to apply insecticides that are registered for other insect species that attack soybeans.
Growers also are concerned about soybean aphids transmitting diseases to the crop.
Like the soybean plant itself, the soybean aphid is a native of China. In China the aphid only attacks soybean plants and buckthorn, a woody shrub. In Asia, the aphids overwinter as eggs on buckthorn plants, according to Hogg. The soybean aphids hatch in spring and spend several weeks feeding on buckthorn before dispersing to soybean fields and feeding on the plants. As the soybeans begin to dry in late summer the newborn aphids don't grow as large, and they move down the plants.