Poplar spiral gall aphid
The poplar spiral gall aphid is a tiny aphid that lives in a twisted little house on a poplar leaf. The leaf stalk curls into a spiral, like the inside of a snail shell, and the aphid family lives inside. Some of the babies are brave soldiers that guard the home.
How fast is it?
Fun facts
Its soldiers have thick back legs and a sharp mouth spike. They stab and squeeze bugs that break into the home.
Soldiers sometimes give their own lives to protect the family.
A home with soldiers in it is ten times less likely to be attacked than one without.
The spiral home turns from green to red as it gets older.
At the end of summer, winged aphids squeeze out through tiny holes along the spiral and fly away.
Most asked questions about Poplar spiral gall aphid
?What is the spiral on a poplar leaf stalk?
It is a gall, a home made by the poplar spiral gall aphid. The aphids live inside the twisted stalk.
?Does the poplar spiral gall aphid harm the tree?
It sucks some sap, but it is harmless to people.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Pemphigus spyrothecae
- Group
- True bugs and cicadas
- Family
- Aphididae
- Classification
- Insecta > Hemiptera > Aphididae
- Lives on
- Europe, Africa, Asia, North America
Where the facts come from
- Pemphigus spyrothecae (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by IN Madde. Public domain, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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