Spruce aphid (Elatobium abietinum Walker) (Hemiptera: Aphididae) [Chapter XXIV]

Abstract

Elatobium abietinum Walker is a spruce-feeding aphid that in Europe is referred to as the green spruce aphid (Day et al., 1998a) (Fig. 1). However, in North America E. abietinum is known simply as the spruce aphid, while the common name "green spruce aphid" refers to a different species, Cinara fornacula Hottes (Hemiptera: Aphididae) (http://www.entsoc.org/common-names). Elatobium abietinum is green-bodied with dull reddish eyes, 1-2 mm long (Johnson and Lyon, 1991; Koot, 1991), and it feeds on mature needles of dormant and nearly dormant spruce (Picea). Synonyms of E. abietinum include Aphis abietina Walker 1849, Myzaphis abietina Van der Goot 1913, Neomyzaphis abietina Theobald 1926, E. abietinum Börner 1930, and Liosomaphis abietina Börner & Schilder 1932 (Carter and Halldórsson, 1998).

Keywords

Elatobium abietinum Walker, green spruce aphid, spruce aphid, biological control, biocontrol, invasive species, forests

Citation

Lynch, Ann M. 2014. Spruce aphid (Elatobium abietinum Walker) (Hemiptera: Aphididae) Chapter XXIV . In: Van den Driesche, Roy; Reardon, Richard. The use of classical biological control to preserve forest in North America. FHTET-2013-2. Morgantown, WV: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Forest Health Technology Enterprise Team. p. 259-270.