Woolly Aphid

Moved

Moved from Eriosoma.

Eriosoma have a once-branched m-vein, and these specimens do not, there are two specimens on the right side of the group image with the wings at a good angle to see the m-vein is unbranched. Eriosoma usually don't have dusky wing veins either. Compare to these images, it's the only vein in the wing with a fork:

https://influentialpoints.com/Gallery/Eriosoma_aphids.htm

… Natalie Hernandez, 19 May, 2022 - 12:26pm

Moved

Moved from unidentified woolly aphids.

… Charley Eiseman, 17 November, 2008 - 7:02pm

Moved

Moved from Woolly Aphids.

Aphids, in general, lay overwintering eggs in bark crevices, so I suspect that's what's going on here. I can't find any evidence of woolly aphids with birch as a host plant... might this have been elm? The woolly apple aphid lays eggs in elm bark.

… Charley Eiseman, 17 November, 2008 - 4:54pm

Elm, yes...

It could have indeed been an elm Charley. The bark was not the typical white, but it had toothed leaves like a birch...hence my GUESS as to what type of tree.

… Tony DiTerlizzi, 17 November, 2008 - 6:41pm

Much of the rail trail...

is through wetlands, so I'm sure there are a lot of elms there. From what I can see of the bark, elm looks reasonable, and there isn't much besides birch and elm that has birch-like leaves. Since making my previous comment, I've been reading up on woolly aphids and other fluffy things. There are several species that winter on elms and spend the summer on various rosaceous woody plants, including apple. All of them are Eriosoma species. I just moved practically everything out of that genus--there were a lot of woolly alder aphids and beech blight aphids, which are in other genera--but it's probably safe to move yours back.

… Charley Eiseman, 17 November, 2008 - 6:59pm