A genus of small aphids or plant lice covered with a white, fluffy, wooly wax that protects them while they feed on plant sap, particularly on apple trees and related plants.
From Greek 'erion' (wool) and 'soma' (body), literally 'wool-bodied.' These insects secrete a protective waxy coating that gives them their characteristic woolly appearance and scientific name.
Woolly apple aphids look like someone glued cotton candy to an apple tree—that white fuzz is actually a waxy coating the aphid secretes as camouflage and armor, making it one of nature's cleverest costume tricks that few gardeners recognize as a serious pest!
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