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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » True Bugs, Cicadas, Hoppers, Aphids and Allies (Hemiptera) » Plant-parasitic Hemipterans (Sternorrhyncha) » Aphidoidea » Aphids (Aphididae) » Aphidinae » Macrosiphini » Uroleucon » Subgenus Uroleucon (Uroleucon Subgenus Uroleucon) » Uroleucon eupatoricolens
Photo#296497
aphid with yellow ball - Uroleucon eupatoricolens
Copyright © 2009 squidpillow

aphid with yellow ball - Uroleucon eupatoricolens
lancaster County, Pennsylvania, USA
June 29, 2009
Can you please tell me about the yellow ball on the aphid? What is it and why does the aphid hold it extended as pictured?
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Contributed by squidpillow on 30 June, 2009 - 10:13am
Last updated 13 October, 2009 - 11:46pm

Moved
Moved from Aphids. ID (Uroleucon eupatoricolens) based on host plant, which looks like Eupatorium maculatum. I suspect the defensive secretion is released in response to being harassed by a predator, as you suggested.
… Charley Eiseman, 13 October, 2009 - 11:46pm login or register to post comments

Cornicle secretion.
It's a defensive fluid that would gum the mouthparts of predators when they would try to eat it
… Adam J Bell, 30 June, 2009 - 12:33pm login or register to post comments

 
wow
Very interesting! Is the fluid produced in response to an immediate threat from a predator? I notice none of the other aphids have it and I wonder why.
… squidpillow, 1 July, 2009 - 11:50am login or register to post comments

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