In the greenhouse, they can be active year-round. In spring winged females fly to suitable host plants and produce live young nymphs through a process called parthenogenesis . Nymphs develop through several instars before becoming mostly wingless adults in 4 to 10 days depending on temperature. Winged adults are produced when certain environmental conditions such as overcrowding, host plant decline or shortened day length occur. Adult aphids live for 3 to 4 weeks, each producing about 85 young.
Many overlapping generations can occur annually.
In greenhouses, up to 51 generations can be produced in one year. These aphids are also important vectors of some plant viral diseases. Feeding activities cause distorted growth, reduced growth, quality and yield. Excretion of the sugary fluid called honeydew by aphids is colonized by a black fungus called sooty mold, causing plants to become unsightly and stressed, because mold-coated leaves are shielded from sunlight needed for photosynthesis. Numerous cast skins from aphid development are also unsightly.