Elatobium abietinum
Pest description and crop damage Small, dull-green aphid causes extreme needle drop. Aphids appear early in the season (fall to winter months) and may increase rapidly during March and April.
See table:
Hosts and Symptoms of Major Aphid and Adelgid Pests of Christmas Trees
Management-biological control
This aphid eludes most predators except the brown lacewing.
Management-chemical control
- afidopyropen (Ventigra) (Group 9D)-Not permitted in Oregon
- azadirachtin (AzaDirect and others)-Some formulations are OMRI-listed for organic production.
- bifenthrin (OnyxPro, Sniper and others) (Group 3A)-Restricted use pesticide
- cyantraniliprole (Mainspring GNL) (Group 28)
- cyclaniliprole + flonicamid (Pradia) (Group 28 + Group 29)
- dinotefuran (Safari 20 SG) (Group 4A)
- flupyradifurone (Sivanto Prime) (Group 4D)
- imidacloprid (Montana, Nuprid 4F and others) (Group 4A)
- insecticidal soaps and oils (Ecotec, M-pede, Ultra-Pure Oil and others)-Some formulations are OMRI-listed for organic production. Note: Some oils may discolor blue spruce. Test for phytotoxicity for any new oil product prior to widespread use.
- pymetrozine (Endeavor and others) (Group 9)
- spirotetramat (Ultor, Movento) (Group 23)
- sulfoxaflor (Transform WG) (Group 4C)
- thiamethoxam (Flagship 25 WG) (Group 4A)