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Sticker of Mealy plum aphid
Bug card No. 2803 of 4,939

Mealy plum aphid

Hyalopterus pruni
Eats: PlantsTrue bugs and cicadasGardens and meadows6 legs

The mealy plum aphid is a tiny pale green aphid with red eyes. It is covered with white wax that looks like flour, so it seems grey or light green. It lives in big groups on plum and peach trees.

Lives in
All over the world, on plum and peach trees
Length
1.5 to 2.6 mm (0.06 to 0.1 in)
Top speed
about 0.01 km/h (0.01 mph)
On foot, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless to people. It only bothers trees and reeds.
What does it eat?
It sucks sap from plum, peach, apricot and almond trees, and in summer from reeds and cattails.
For real!Photo of Mealy plum aphid
Picture by Hectonichus. CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How long is it?

Mealy plum aphid about 2.6 mm long (0.1 in)A grain of rice about 6 mm (0.24 in)
2.5 of them in a row are as long as one grain of riceneeds 6 minutes to cross a dinner table

How big is Mealy plum aphid compared to YOU?

Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.

How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

Its flour-like white coat is made of wax.

2

For many generations in a row the aphids have no wings. Winged ones appear in June or July.

3

The winged ones fly to reeds and cattails, while the wingless ones stay on the trees.

4

Its eggs spend the winter next to the flower buds and hatch when the buds open.

5

The sweet honeydew it leaves on leaves attracts lots of other insects.

you asked

Most asked questions about Mealy plum aphid

?What are the white aphids on plum trees?

Often the mealy plum aphid. Its white waxy coat makes it look dusty.

?How big is the mealy plum aphid?

About 1.5 to 2.6 millimetres long.

?Is the mealy plum aphid dangerous?

No. It is harmless to people.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Hyalopterus pruni
Named by
Geoffroy, 1762
Group
True bugs and cicadas
Family
Aphididae
Classification
Insecta > Hemiptera > Aphididae
Lives on
Europe, Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Australia and Oceania

Where the facts come from

  1. Hyalopterus pruni (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by Hectonichus. CC BY-SA 4.0, 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.

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