Damage - Green peach aphids extract sap from plants and excrete a sweet sticky substance known as honeydew. Black sooty mold grows on honeydew and, though not directly harming the plants, may block out sufficient light to reduce yield. Weakened plants become susceptible to secondary disease and may be inoculated with viruses carried by aphids. Among the virus diseases transmitted by green peach aphids are potato leaf roll, potato virus Y, beet mosaic, beet yellows, and lettuce mosaic. Life History - Adults pass the winter on greens and wild hosts such as cabbage, collards, turnip, wild mustard, and dock.
Winged forms migrate to other hosts in late spring.
During these migratory flights, aphids may spread virus diseases from infected volunteer plants and weeds to healthy crop plants. Movement between host plants continues through summer and fall. In southern states, the aphids are nearly all females. Successive generations of females, mainly wingless, are produced throughout the year. Winged migrants develop whenever overcrowding occurs or food becomes scarce.