Host Plants - Pea aphids infest garden and field peas, sweet peas, sweet clover, alfalfa, and some leguminous weeds. Vetch and crimson clover are important overwintering hosts. Damage - Pea aphids extract sap from the terminal leaves and stem of the host plant. Their feeding can result in deformation, wilting, or death of the host depending upon the infestation level. Plants that survive heavy infestations are short and bunchy with more lightly colored tops than those of healthy plants.
Wilted plants appear as brownish spots in the field.
Moreover, plants are often coated with shiny honeydew secreted by the aphids, and cast skins may give the leaves and ground a whitish appearance. These aphids also transmit the pea enation mosaic and the yellow bean mosaic viruses. The first of these viruses, the pea enation mosaic, has been a problem in New York but has not been reported in North Carolina. In North Carolina, wingless, female pea aphids continue to feed and breed throughout the winter months. In spring, feeding activity increases.