Overview

• Local entomologists confirm the floating white flecks are hackberry woolly aphids feeding on hackberry tree sap and coating surfaces with honeydew.
• Residents across the Nashville area report vehicles, porches and clothing smeared with sticky residue as swarms lift off infested branches.
• Tennessee State University warns heavy activity can complicate nursery shipments because aphids land on plants bound for out-of-state markets.
• For severe infestations, systemic insecticides that move through plant tissues can control the pests, though treatments can be costly for homeowners.
• The species is native to Asia and was first documented in North America in 1996 in Georgia, and numbers typically ease once cooler weather arrives.