Mass of Aphids - Hamamelistes spinosus

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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » True Bugs, Cicadas, Hoppers, Aphids and Allies (Hemiptera) » Plant-parasitic Hemipterans (Sternorrhyncha) » Aphidoidea » Aphids (Aphididae) » Witch Hazel Gall Aphids and Palm Aphids (Hormaphidinae) » Hamamelistes » Spiny Witch Hazel Gall Aphid (Hamamelistes spinosus)

Photo#65490

Copyright © 2006 Bill Johnson

Mass of Aphids - Hamamelistes spinosus

St. Paul, Ramsey County, Minnesota, USA
June 20, 1996

These aphids gather every year on the same group of River Birch trees, covering hundreds of leaves, resulting in a lot of sticky substances all over whatever is under the trees. They eventually do go away, and the trees don't seem to worse for the wear from it. In one of my keys there is a listing for something that sounds like what I've photographed - Spiny Witch-Hazel Bud Gall Aphids - Hamamelistes spinosus . However, it describes this behavior as a 2-part life style - one part needing Witch-Hazel trees for one part of the life cycle and tha 2nd part of the life cycle needs River Birch trees to complete it. Anyone ever heard of this behavior before, and if so, is this what that is? Thanks.

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Contributed by Bill Johnson on 20 July, 2006 - 11:18pm
Last updated 28 December, 2008 - 10:51pm

Life cycle

I have read about other aphid species with a life cycle similar to the one you describe here, needing two different hosts through the year. So this sounds quite possible.

… Beatriz Moisset, 3 July, 2009 - 1:45pm

Two hosts

An interesting difference with this species is that you can see them (or signs of them) on both hosts at the same time of year. When they emerge from the witch hazel galls, some of the aphids lay overwintering eggs on witch hazel, and their offspring go on to make more witch hazel galls in the spring, while others fly to birches and lay overwintering eggs there, and their offspring make the corrugations in birch leaves. As I understand it, most aphids have one host during most of the growing season, on which there are many generations of females giving birth to live young, and then move to another host on which they lay eggs that overwinter.

… Charley Eiseman, 3 July, 2009 - 2:21pm

Moved

Moved from Aphids. Yes--the species that causes spiny witch hazel galls lives on the undersides of birch leaves in another part of its life cycle, causing the "corrugations" visible in your photo, and more obvious in this one:

… Charley Eiseman, 28 December, 2008 - 10:51pm

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