This most dangerous of all vine pests (Daktulosphaira vitifoliae, Viteus vitifoliae) is an insect of the order Plant Aphids (Homoptera), suborder Aphidina and family Phylloxeridae. The phylloxera exclusively attacks the grapevine, sucking on the leaves and/or the roots and releasing its saliva into the sap pathways, causing galls (growths) which then serve as oviposition and food. Different species are suspected due to different behavioural patterns towards the vine. The German biologist Dr. Carl Börner (1880-1953) distinguished between a less dangerous long-nosed phylloxera and a more harmful short-nosed phylloxera. From the initial infestation, it usually takes a maximum of three years for the vine to die and be completely destroyed due to secondary effects such as nutrient deficiency and root rot. The French scientist Jules Émile Planchon (1823-1888) aptly named the vine pest "Phylloxera vastatrix" (devastating louse) when he identified it in France in 1868.
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Technischer Lehrer, staatl. geprüfter Sommelier, Hotelfachschule Heidelberg