Cabbage Aphid

Biological information:

• Common name: Cabbage Aphid
• Scientific name: Brevicoryne brassicae (Linnaeus)
• Family or class: Aphididae

Symptoms and/or signs to watch out for:

• Leaves curling around dense colonies
• Aphids damage the plant by building up in dense, sticky clumps

Life cycle:

• Life cycle 16-50 days, shorter at higher temperatures
• Can be 15 generations in one season
• Peak populations in mid-August and mid-October

Mode of reproduction:

• Adult females give birth to live offspring throughout growing season
• During warm periods females do not need to mate
• In fall, males are produce and they mate and lay eggs

Vectors for the pest:

• Surrounding brassica weeds like wild mustard

Overwintering habit:

• Eggs laid in plant debris near the soil surface

Alternate hosts:

• Any other brassica plant, including weed species

Horticultural production information:

Preventative strategies:

• Destroy crop remnants after harvest
• Remove brassica weeds
• Plant wild-flower habitats to attract natural enemies
• Remove heavily infested plants entirely

Threshold levels:

• Control is more than 10% plant is infested
• See sequential sampling chart on UC IPM Pest Maagement Guidelines: Cole Crops

Control options:

Physical controls:

• Limit Nitrogen fertilization
• Remove heavy infestations
• Polycropping with beneficial flowers
• Squish them by hand

Biological controls:

• Ladybeetles
• Syrphid flies
• Parasitic wasps
• Lacewing larvae

Chemical controls:

-Azera, M-Pede, peppermint leaf extract, seed extract from the Chinaberry tree