Reckless Gardener News Stories

Surprise aphid joins list of Britain's top garden pests - RHS's Top Pest Enquiries of 2004

The woolly beech aphid (Phyllaphis fagi) (pictured left) may sound cuddly but the innocent name hides a gardening menace that generated a record numbers of enquiries about this insect to the Royal Horticultural Society's (RHS) advisory service in 2004. The aphid shot up the ranks to become Britain's fourth most enquired about pest last year.

However, the surprise aphid entry did not upset the usual suspects at the top of the RHS list from a total of 3,750 enquiries made to the RHS Entomology Department in 2004. Vine weevil and lily beetle jointly beat slugs and snails to the top spot for the second year running with the munching molluscs looking set to lose their long-running reputation as gardening enemy No.1. (Access here for the full top ten list of pests in th UK!)

Andrew Halstead, Principal Entomologist for the RHS, said, "The woolly beech aphid has had an exceptional year as it has not even featured in the top twenty pest enquiries before. It presumably had good breeding success during 2003 resulting in above average numbers of overwintering eggs being laid. The combination of favourable weather conditions and reduced numbers of predators and parasites last year may also be a factor."

The woolly beech aphid occurs throughout Britain and is pale yellow in colour but covered entirely by white waxy filaments that are secreted from its body. Dense colonies of the aphid develop on the underside of the leaves and on the shoot tips of beech trees and hedges where it feeds on the sap during late spring and early summer.

Andrew added, "Heavy infestations can result in leaves at the shoot tips becoming distorted and sometimes turning brown and drying up. The aphids excrete a sugary substance called honeydew which allows the growth of a black sooty mould. This is not directly harmful to plants but is unattractive and reduces the amount of light reaching the foliage. Beech trees will not suffer any long-term damage from this pest and in most gardens the aphid has to be tolerated, especially on trees or hedges that are too large to be sprayed. With beech saplings or young hedges it may be worth using an insecticide in late spring if the aphid is seen on the young foliage."

The RHS Advisory Service is available to RHS members as a benefit of membership. For further details on becoming a member call 0845 130 4646 or visit www.rhs.org.uk and click on the 'Join Us' icon. All visitors to the RHS flower shows can meet members of the advisory team in person and seek their advice on any gardening problem. For details of forthcoming shows visit www.rhs.org.uk/events/shows.asp.

Anyone can access the wealth of advice and information on garden pests and other horticultural problems by visiting the advisory pages on RHS Online - visit www.rhs.org.uk/advice/index.asp