LE PUCERON LANIGÈRE DU PEUPLIER : LES AVANCÉES DE LA RECHERCHE

Since 1995, wooly poplar aphids have been responsible for considerable damage to French poplar groves. The damage has spread from the southwest towards the north and the east and has now reached Burgundy and Picardy. The forest entomology team at the University of Orleans has been conducting research since 2008 to elucidate the life history of the insect responsible (a poorly known indigenous species), understand the reasons for the damage and its spread, the very large differences in cultivar susceptibility, determine how cultivar, climate change and level of aggressiveness of the aphid populations affect the spread of damage and its spatial heterogeneity, and finally to offer control methods for the pest. This article provides and overview of current research results