English grain aphids can feed on a wide range of wild grasses and may colonize wheat at any stage in development, usually preferring the upper parts of the plant. They are relatively active aphids, dispersing rapidly from plant to plant, and do not tend to form tightly packed colonies like greenbugs. Winged forms (alatae) develop when the aphids become crowded or the quality of their food plant declines. Infestations in wheat are typically initiated by migrant alatae arriving from wild grasses or other cereal crops. Reproduction is asexual throughout much of the year, but populations in temperature regions may produce a sexual generation in the fall with each sexual female (oviparae) laying from 6 to 12 oval, black eggs at the base of a host plant. The eggs are resistant to freezing and hatch into asexual 'stem mothers' (fundrices) in spring. Although the English grain aphid can be a serious pest of cereals in Europe, it is rarely abundant in Kansas wheat and is usually not a cause for concern.

In the fall, S. avenae may feed on the leaves of young wheat plants causing no discernable damage, but it is at this time that they can be important vectors of Barley Yellow Dwarf Virus. Use of seed treatments containing imidacloprid or thiamethoxam will reduce the establishment of aphid colonies and lower the incidence of BYDV infection on seedling plants. Populations are normally held in check by the same groups of natural enemies suppressing other aphids and chemical treatments are rarely, if ever, justified.