"Kay" wrote in message
...
In article , Martin Brown |||newspam|
writes
Dimethoate used to work on them, but I doubt you can buy it now.

Isn't that the active constituent of Tumblebug and similar? I thought it
was still available but haven't bought it since I've come to the
conclusion my mealybug and red spider are now resistant.
Yes, resistance to Dimethoate is widespread - it's been useless here for
some years.

Bluetits and woodpeckers make quite useful inroads into woolly aphids.