Brachycaudus helichrysi (Kaltenbach, 1843)

Morphological characters

1.1-2.2 mm.
Apterous: pale green, tarsi black, cornicles short and conical.
Alate: yellowish green, large brown dorsal spot, antennae short and dark, cornicles short and pigmented, cauda short.

See identification file

Life cycles

Dioecious holocyclic, anholocyclic in temperate regions.

Primary hosts: Prunus spp (plum, peach, apricot).
Secondary hosts: Asteraceae: Cynara (artichoke), Tragopogon (salsify), Cichorium (chicory), Cultivated Asteraceae: Helianthus (sunflower), Chrysanthemum (chrysanthemum) or wild species; Borraginaceae: Myosotis (forget-me-not) etc.; Fabaceae: Trifolium (clover) and so on.

Agronomic impact

Brachycaudus helichrysi is a significant pest on Prunus, on crops of sunflower and also in the greenhouse production of chrysanthemums. The toxic effect of its saliva causes crinkling of the foliage (photo: apical part of a sunflower plant).
It is also harmful to artichoke capitula. It colonizes the underside of leaves, leads to blemishes on the bracts, induces hardening and reddening of those bracts which leads in turn to the formation of appearance of a waxy film.
The species transmits some viruses that depend on the non-persistent mode, such as cucumber mosaic virus (CMV).

Naturals enemies

Parasitoids

• Aphelinus asychis
• Aphelinus humilis
• Aphidius colemani
• Aphidius matricariae
• Binodoxys angelicae
• Diaeretiella rapae
• Ephedrus cerasicola
• Ephedrus persicae
• Ephedrus plagiator
• Lipolexis gracilis
• Lysiphlebus confusus
• Praon abjectum
• Praon volucre