Natural pests of the aphid include predators, parasites, and fungal pathogens. Both fungicides and insecticides are damaging to populations of aphid natural enemies. With the increasing importance of late blight and other fungal diseases on potato, there has been a dramatic increase in the amount of foliar fungicide applications. Mancozeb sprayed routinely can cause aphid populations to rise to 100 times those receiving no fungicide applications. Because management of potato leafroll and net necrosis is heavily dependent upon managing aphid populations, it is useful for potato producers to understand the biology of PLRV aphid vectors.
Wingless forms are the most common during the growing season, but both forms can transmit viruses.
Virus inoculum originates from the potato crop, either from infected seed or volunteers. Traditionally, aphids arrive in the northern Great Plains from southern areas via winds. In regions too cold for continuous outdoor green peach aphid production, eggs serve as over-wintering structures on a restricted number of hosts, including woody plants and stone fruits. These stem mothers reproduce without mating, giving birth to live young. Winged forms develop when populations become dense and migrate to secondary hosts while wingless offspring remain on the primary host and continue to reproduce.