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February 8, 2012

Outbreak of Cinara aphids in south county reported

Misty Ward Suwannee Democrat

Live Oak — Southeastern Suwannee County landowners need to be on the look out for Cinara aphids, senior forester Brian Cobble said.

“The insect outbreak has grown to epidemic proportions. The tiny insects are currently feeding on slash pines, on six different slash pine stands, with 328 acres identified in the outbreak location. The known number of aphids is in the millions and could be under-estimated,” Cobble said.

There was a pest alert recently released by the Florida Division of Plant Industry regarding the Genus of Aphids. It stated that the Cinara aphids came in to Florida on fresh-cut Christmas trees imported from other states.  

According to Susan Halbert, taxonomic entomologist for the FDPI, the Cinara aphids “do not transmit any human or animal pathogens. There is no need to treat the trees with insecticide.”

The aphids look like “engorged ticks” but they have only six legs and are harmless to humans and animals because they only feed on their host plant Halbert said.  

The insects were reported in early January, Cobble said, in a pine stand on 256th Street, five miles east of O’Brien.

“The tiny sap-sucking insects have since been noted in more adjacent pine stands within the last three weeks and seem to be continuing to expand their current population size,” Cobble said.

Aphids and ants thrive together, Cobble said. He added that the ants feed on the honeydew excretion from the aphids. He said that evidence shows that many Cinara species cannot survive without the ants.

“One of the reasons an ‘Aphid Bloom’ can be so serious, is that female aphids can reproduce without the assistance of the male, for several consecutive generations,” Cobble said.

According to the Ohio State University Extension office, “Heavy populations may stunt shoot elongation or cause some needle drop. These aphids produce considerable amounts of honeydew which is soon covered with black sooty mold. Cinara attacks to seedlings have been known to kill some plants,”

For more information on aphids, or to report a possible outbreak, contact Cobble at 386-364-5314.

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