This spring we’re asking everyone - in any state - to look for and report garlic mustard aphid, Lipaphis alliariae. You may be familiar with the invasive biennial plant garlic mustard and you may be managing it on your property. If you’re looking closely at garlic mustard and notice damage, evidence of aphids or garlic mustard aphids please report it to EDDMapS.
In Minnesota, garlic mustard, Alliaria petiolata, is an invasive understory plant that persists under the snow all winter as a small first year rosette and then in spring starts to bolt and produce showy white flowers in May and starts going to seed through July. We believe the non-native insect garlic mustard aphid is relatively new to the United States and hope to better understand its distribution and density in the state and its possible impact on garlic mustard. Garlic mustard aphid can be found on garlic mustard plants any time during the growing season.
Want to learn more about garlic mustard, including how to serve it for dinner? Visit my previous Women Owning Woodlands post: Garlic Mustard Management: Making the World Better One Cup of Soup at a Time
The Midwest Invasive Plant Network (MIPN) has links to a new informational flier and a garlic mustard aphid identification card in the WHAT’S NEW @ MIPN, Keep a Lookout for Garlic Mustard Aphids, section of their website: https://www.mipn.org/
For more information about the project in Minnesota visit: https://z.umn.edu/garlicmustardaphidTIPS
Garlic mustard aphid photo by Rebecah Troutman, Holden Arboretum