Life cycle (Apple grass aphid)

• Overwintered eggs on the bark of apple trees hatch in spring by the green cluster growth stage.
• The nymphs feed on the undersides of the rosette leaves and amongst the flower buds sometimes invading the flowers during bloom.
• The first generation is wingless but the second generation is winged.
• The first winged aphids migrate to grasses in mid-May during blossom.
• Populations on apple then decline rapidly.
• In the autumn, winged females return to fruit trees and their wingless progeny (the egg-laying females) mate with winged males returning from grasses.
• Eggs are deposited on spurs and branches, just before leaf fall.