It's the season for aphids to begin showing up in leafy vegetables, but up to now, aphid pressure has been light this winter. There have been a few reports of winged green peach aphids (GPA) found on cole crops in the Yuma Valley. In November, we found a few small colonies of GPA on green cabbage here at the Yuma Ag Center but they did not build up to any appreciable numbers. The most common aphid species reported colonizing lettuce to date has been Acyrthosiphum lactucae (aka, the lettuce seed-stem aphid). We have found a few plants with small colonies here at YAC, and reports of aphid colonies found on lettuce have come in from both the Yuma and Gila Valleys. The good news is, it is easy to manage and can be effectively controlled with dimethoate, endosulfan, acephate, bifenthrin, as well as the newer compounds Assail, Beleaf and Movento. More information on aphid identification for leafy vegetables (PDF, 10 MB).

For questions or comments on any of the topics please contact Marco Pena at the Yuma Agricultural Center.
College of Agriculture, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ.