This species of aphid usually host alternates from its primary host of Poplar (Populus) species to Buttercup (Ranunculus spp.). On Poplar it folds the leaves to form a blistered, reddish pouch within which the aphids develop in a woolly waxy fibrous mass. Winged viviparous females leave the gall in late June-July to found waxy colonies at the stem bases and on the runners of Buttercups. Alatae migrate back to the primary host in autumn.
Thecabius (Thecabius) affinis leaf galls cause little or no harm to adult poplar trees.
Seen during the summer months. Poorly recorded so status and distribution is undetermined.
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Hemiptera (True Bugs)
Family Aphididae (Aphids)
Species Thecabius (Thecabius) affinis (Kaltenbach, 1843)
Photos: Local park, South Staffordshire 5th July 2021. © Peter Hillman
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