Currant lettuce aphid

Summary

Currant lettuce aphid, Nasonovia ribis-nigri (Mosey) [CLA] is primarily a contamination pest of lettuce, chicory, endive and radicchio. The aphids colonise lettuce hearts and rosettes, making them unsaleable. CLA can also vector cucumber and lettuce mosaic virus although this has not been observed in infested crops.

Currant lettuce aphids prefer to feed on new leaves. They can be found inside the wrapper leaves and hearts of iceberg lettuce varieties. In an open lettuce variety, they are found deep within the leaf rosette. CLA are often scattered, and do not tend to form dense colonies.

Some of the topics covered in this Factsheet include:

• Description
• Distribution
• Hosts
• Management Options