Aphis gossypii is a tiny insect, an aphid ("greenfly") in the superfamily Aphidoidea in the order Hemiptera.

It is common in North and South America, Central Asia, Africa, Australia,[3] Brazil, East Indies, Mexico and Hawaii and in most of Europe.

[3] The wingless female cotton aphid has an ovoid body about two millimetres long in varying shades of green.

In Europe it reproduces exclusively by asexual reproduction and can produce nearly fifty generations a year under favourable conditions.

[3] Winged forms then migrate to secondary host species in the families Rosaceae, Chenopodiaceae, Malvaceae, Cruciferae, Cucurbitaceae, Solanaceae, Compositae and others.

[3] Predators include midges, lacewings, syrphid fly larvae, anthocorid bugs and ladybirds (ladybeetles).

The adults and nymphs of the cotton aphid feed on the underside of leaves or on the growing tips of shoots, sucking juices from the plant.

Honeydew is excreted by the aphids and this allows sooty moulds to grow, resulting in a decrease in the quantity and quality of the produce.

The aphids' impact is especially important on vegetable crops such as courgette, melon, cucumber, aubergine and strawberry and on cotton, citrus and mallow.