Infestation of aphid, Brachycaudus helichrysi (Kalt) on peach, plum and almond plants in northern areas of Pakistan

Research conducted against peach leaf curl aphid, Brachycaudus helichrysi (Kalt), in four different localities of Northern Areas of Pakistan (Gilgit, Skardu, Chilass and Ghakuch) disclosed that it appeared in an epidemic form from April and continued upto the end of August, 1996 on peach, plum and almond plants. The results showed that peach plants were infested significantly higher with an overall average of 32.30 aphids/branch, followed by plum (21.33) and almonds (9.49) aphids/branch. Heavy infestation was found on peach, plum and almond plants at Gilgit (40.93, 29.41 and 11.49), followed by Chilass (32.21, 18.05 and 9.14) and Ghakuch (30.67, 19.55 and 7.86 aphids/branch), respectively. At Skardu 25.46 aphids/branch were recorded on peach, while no aphids were found on plum and almond plants during the experimental period.