Plocamaphis Oestlund

This is small, apparently not well-understood genus, all species of which live on Salix (i.e. willows).  There are a couple species known from North America.

Plocamaphis flocculosa (Weed)

As I travel around on work and pleasure, I often stop to look for aphids along roadsides, streams, and fields.  As the years have gone by I more commonly think to myself, “The odds I find something new here are practically zero.”  It was one of those days in 2013 that I stopped along a road and stream in central Oregon and pushed into the darkness of a willow thicket.  There, to my surprise, was a great big aphid, covered in wax, with impossibly orange siphunculi.  It is the only time I’ve seen it despite collecting avidly on willows for over 25 years.

Plocamaphis flocculosa from the central Oregon forest in May. This is the normal waxy covering.

Plocamaphis flocculosa from the same place, lacking the normal wax coating. It is probably a young adult that has not fully developed the wax.

Plocamaphis flocculosa alate vivipara with a full complement of wax.