Farmers need to be on the watch for sugarcane aphids again this year, and start looking now. These pale yellow, gray or tan colored insects with black “tailpipes”, feet and antennae can be found on the underside of sorghum leaves.  This insect is known to feed on grain and forage sorghum (Sudan grass, sorghum/Sudan hybrids) and Johnsongrass. So start looking now at those leaves.

 Sugarcane aphids need living sorghum or Johnsongrass plants to persist. Small colonies of SCA can be found on Johnsongrass throughout the winter in the Rio Grande Valley and Gulf Coast of Texas and in northern Mexico. In 2015, small colonies were found on Johnsongrass in early April near Waco and Hillsboro, suggesting that SCA can overwinter as far north as central Texas in some years. As SCA colonies become crowded and food quality declines, adults with wings begin to appear. These winged adults can then disperse from Johnsongrass into nearby sorghum fields. Although weak fliers, winged aphids can be carried on the wind across long distances.

 Once the sorghum head emerges, sugarcane aphids can also feed in the grain head and this nuisance will produce a large amount of honeydew which collects on the leaves leaving them sticky and shiny. This honeydew will wreak havoc on farm equipment during harvest or baling.

 While this is a relatively new pest, first noted in the US in 2013; it has quickly jumped to one of the most important insect pests of grain sorghum and forage sorghums in Texas and the southern US.  There are a couple of chemical control options on the market for sugarcane aphid control, please contact the Bosque County Extension Office at 254-435-2331 for information.