Elm sack gall aphid
The elm sack gall aphid is a tiny aphid that makes elm leaves grow little bags. Each bag, called a gall, looks like a smooth club or a tiny fig standing on the leaf. Inside, a baby aphid feeds and has babies of its own.
How big is it?
How long is it?
How big is Elm sack gall aphid compared to YOU?
Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.
How fast is it?
Fun facts
Its gall is 7 to 15 millimetres tall, sitting on a little stalk on the leaf.
The aphids are pink, orange or purple and dusted with fine wax powder.
In summer they leave the galls and move to grass roots. In autumn winged ones fly back to the elms.
A gall starts as a tiny yellowish pimple on the top of the leaf.
Most asked questions about Elm sack gall aphid
?What are the little bags on elm leaves?
They are often galls made by the elm sack gall aphid. A tiny aphid lives inside.
?Are elm galls harmful?
They are harmless to people. They are just the aphid's little homes on the leaves.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Tetraneura ulmi
- Named by
- Linnaeus, 1758
- Group
- True bugs and cicadas
- Family
- Aphididae
- Classification
- Insecta > Hemiptera > Aphididae
- Lives on
- Europe, Asia, North America
- Also known as
- Fig gall
Where the facts come from
- Tetraneura ulmi (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 Holger Krisp. CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
Bug Wiki honey jar For grown-ups: Bug Wiki is free, with no ads and no tracking. A small tip helps keep it online.Leave a tip
Pharaoh cicada
Spotted lanternfly
Brown marmorated stink bug
Cochineal
Boxelder bug
Western conifer seed bug
Fourteen-spot ladybird
Dimorphic jumper
Tropical tent-web spider
Anise swallowtail
Fig wasp
Wart-biter