The most common insect in the landscape are aphids. Most plants get attacked at one time or another by one of the many species of aphids that arrive every spring.  But a lesser know and sometimes misidentified relative is the woolly aphid.

Much like other types of aphids, these plant juice-sucking insect pests are fairly small. However, woolly aphids, which are green or blue, also appear fuzzy due to the white, waxy material that covers their body. These pests generally use two hosts: one for overwintering and laying eggs in spring, and one for feeding in summer. There are many types of woolly aphids, but the two most common we see are the Hackberry woolly aphid and the Woolly apple aphid. The hackberry woolly aphid is typically found mostly on Hackberry trees and by the end of the summer, their sticky mess below a large hackberry is impossible to miss.