Bug FAQBlack Cherry Aphid
Myzus cerasi · Order: Hemiptera · Family: Aphididae
Also called: Cherry Aphid, Cherry Blackfly
Source: Wikipedia
They live on the top shoots of wild and cultivated cherry trees and can cause leaf curling and damage to new growth.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Adults have a glossy dark brown to black body, black siphunculi and cauda, and yellow-black legs and antennae. Wingless summer females are completely black on the body, siphunculi and antennae, with a dusky cauda and yellow tibiae except at the tips.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
The black cherry aphid is a small to medium-sized aphid.
Source: Wikipedia
How to get rid of it
Bacillus thuringiensis has been effective in laboratory and field studies at reducing black cherry aphid populations.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
It breeds on the growing top shoots of Prunus species such as sour and sweet cherries.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
It feeds by sucking sap from both wild and domesticated cherry varieties.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
It is a cosmopolitan species found across Europe and parts of Asia.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 15 of 51 states and DC. Most records: California, Washington, Colorado, Oregon, Minnesota, Michigan, Indiana, Massachusetts.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Status: native in North America; native in Canada. Source: iNaturalist
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Questions people ask
How can I identify black cherry aphids?
Look for small to medium aphids that are shiny dark brown to black, with black siphunculi and cauda, and yellow-black legs and antennae.
Source: Wikipedia
What damage do black cherry aphids cause?
They form large colonies that curl leaves and damage newly forming foliage on cherry trees.
Source: Wikipedia
How can I control black cherry aphids?
Applying Bacillus thuringiensis has been shown to reduce their numbers in both lab and field settings.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Aphididae)
Melon AphidAphis gossypiiDamages trees, gardens or crops
Oleander AphidAphis neriiDamages trees, gardens or crops
Witch-hazel Cone Gall AphidHormaphis hamamelidis
Beech Blight AphidGrylloprociphilus imbricatorDamages trees, gardens or crops
Rice Root AphidTetraneura nigriabdominalis
Rose AphidMacrosiphum rosaeDamages trees, gardens or cropsSources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myzus_cerasi
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-29 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-29.