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Green Peach Aphid

Myzus persicae[3]

The green peach aphid is a small, pale green to yellowish aphid that overwinters on peach and other Prunus trees and spreads in summer to hundreds of vegetables, flowers and weeds; it is considered the most important aphid carrier of plant viruses worldwide.[1][2]

Group
Insect
Order
Hemiptera
Family
Aphididae
Sources
3 cited
Updated
2026-10-16
Green peach aphid, a small pale green aphid on a leaf
Green peach aphid, a small pale green aphid on a leaf. Photo: Jesse Rorabaugh, public domain (CC0), via iNaturalist
On this page
  1. Identification
  2. Look-alikes
  3. Where it lives
  4. Biology
  5. Damage and signs
  6. Health risk
  7. Control
  8. Related profiles
  9. Common questions
  10. Sources

How to identify it

  • Wingless adults are about 1/16 inch (1.7 to 2.0 mm) long, yellowish or greenish, often with three darker green stripes down the back.[1][2]
  • Winged adults have a black head and thorax and a yellowish-green abdomen with a large dark patch.[1]
  • Its cornicles (tailpipes) are moderately long and slightly swollen.[1]

Look-alikes

Look-alikeHow to tell them apart
Other aphidsMany aphids look alike; keys and close inspection separate green peach aphid from other vegetable aphids.[1]
Melon aphidAnother common garden aphid that also transmits viruses.[1]

Where it lives

Found worldwide, including all of North America, in fields and greenhouses.[1][2]

Biology and life cycle

Where winters are cold it overwinters as eggs or wingless females under peach buds and on other Prunus; in spring stem mothers produce live young, and winged forms then move to summer hosts.[1][2]

A generation can take only 10 to 12 days, with more than 20 generations a year in mild climates; each wingless female can produce 30 to 80 young.[1]

In fall, winged aphids return to Prunus to lay eggs.[1]

Damage and signs

  • It feeds on hundreds of plants in more than 40 families, including peaches, nectarines, potatoes, spinach and other greens, ornamentals and broadleaf weeds.[1][2]
  • Dense colonies cause wilting and slow growth, but the major damage is spreading plant viruses, including plum pox in stone fruit.[1][2]

Health risk

None to people or pets.[1][2]

Control

Prevention

Avoid unnecessary broad-spectrum insecticides, which kill natural enemies and can trigger aphid outbreaks; treat spotty early infestations promptly.[1][2]

Sanitation

Control broadleaf weeds, which can harbor aphids and the viruses they carry.[1]

Biological control

Lady beetles, flower flies, lacewings, parasitic wasps and fungi attack it, often crashing populations.[1]

Pesticides

Contact sprays struggle to reach aphids under leaves, especially in cool weather; on peach and nectarine, Penn State suggests treating at one colony per nectarine tree or five per peach tree.[1][2]

Common questions

What are the small green aphids on my peppers and spinach?
Often green peach aphids.[1]
Why is it a bigger problem than other aphids?
It spreads many plant viruses.[1][2]
What eats green peach aphids?
Lady beetles, lacewings, flower fly larvae and parasitic wasps.[1]

Sources

  1. University of Florida IFAS Extension (EDIS, Featured Creatures), “Green Peach Aphid, Myzus persicae (Sulzer) (EENY-222).” ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/IN379 (accessed 2026-10-16)
  2. Penn State Extension, “Tree Fruit Insect Pest - Green Peach Aphid.” extension.psu.edu/tree-fruit-insect-pest-green-peach-aphid/ (accessed 2026-10-16)
  3. iNaturalist, “Myzus persicae taxon page (order and family).” www.inaturalist.org/taxa/243745 (accessed 2026-10-06)

Updated 2026-10-16. Built from sourced records. Spot an error? Tell us.