Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada

Subfamily Aphidinae


Ants defend aphids against lethal disease.
By Nielsen, C., A.A. Agrawal, and A.E. Hajek.
Biology Letters DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2009.0743, 2009
Full Text

Nielsen, C., A.A. Agrawal, and A.E. Hajek. 2009. Ants defend aphids against lethal disease. Biology Letters DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2009.0743

Abstract

Social insects defend their own colonies and some species also protect their mutualist partners. In mutualisms with aphids, ants typically feed on honeydew produced by aphids and, in turn guard and shelter aphid colonies from insect natural enemies. Here we report that Formica podzolica ants tending milkweed aphids, Aphis asclepiadis, protect aphid colonies from lethal fungal infections caused by an obligate aphid pathogen, Pandora neoaphidis.

Phorodon cannabis Passerini (Hemiptera: Aphididae), a newly recognized pest in North America found on industrial hemp
By Cranshaw W.S., Halbert S.E., Favret C., Britt K.E., Miller G.L.
Insecta Mundi 0662: 1–12, 2018

Light- induced electron transfer and ATP synthesis in a carotene synthesizing insect
By Jean Christophe Valmalette, Aviv Dombrovsky, Pierre Brat, Christian Mertz, Maria Capovilla, Alain Robichon
Scientific Reports, 2012
Full text (PDF)

Abstract:
"A singular adaptive phenotype of a parthenogenetic insect species (Acyrthosiphon pisum) was selected in cold conditions and is characterized by a remarkable apparition of a greenish colour. The aphid pigments involve carotenoid genes well defined in chloroplasts and cyanobacteria and amazingly present in the aphid genome, likely by lateral transfer during evolution. The abundant carotenoid synthesis in aphids suggests strongly that a major and unknown physiological role is related to these compounds beyond their canonical anti-oxidant properties.

Ericaphis voegtlini, a new, unusual aphid species from the USA (Hemiptera, Aphididae)
By Shalva Barjadze, Andrew S. Jensen, Mariusz Kanturski
ZooKeys 785:133-143, 2018
Full text (PDF)

Insect-Plant Biology
By L.M. Schoonhoven, T. Jermy, and J.J.A. Van Loon
Chapman and Hall, 1998
An excellent book for understanding plant and insect interactions.

Coexistence of three specialist aphids on common milkweed, Asclepias syriaca.
By Smith, R.A., K.A. Mooney, A.A. Agrawal.
Ecology. 89(8): 2187-2196., 2008
Smith, R.A., K.A. Mooney, A.A. Agrawal. 2008. Coexistence of three specialist aphids on common milkweed, Asclepias syriaca. Ecology. 89(8): 2187-2196.

Abstract

Coexistence of host-specific herbivores on plants is believed to be governed by interspecific interactions, but few empirical studies have systematically unraveled these dynamics. We investigated the role of several factors in promoting coexistence among the aphids Aphis nerii, Aphis asclepiadis, and Myzocallis asclepiadis that all specialize on common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca). Competitive exclusion is thought to occur when interspecific competition is stronger than intraspecific competition.

Population growth and sequestration of plant toxins along a gradient of specialization in four aphid spp. on common milkweed.
By Züst, T. & A.A. Agrawal.
Functional Ecology doi: 10.1111/1365-2435.12523 pp. 1-10., 2015
Full PDF

Züst, T. & A.A. Agrawal. 2015. Population growth and sequestration of plant toxins along a gradient of specialization in four aphid species on the common milkweed Asclepias syriaca. Functional Ecology doi: 10.1111/1365-2435.12523 pp. 1-10.

Summary

1. Dietary specialization in insect herbivores has long been hypothesized to predict tolerance of plant defenses, with more specialized herbivores being highly tolerant of and sometimes sequestering plant secondary compounds. Plant variation in secondary compounds should thus play an important and predictable role in shaping the performance and distribution of insect communities.

Adventive aphids (Hemiptera: Aphididae) of America north of Mexico
By Foottit R.G., Halbert S.E., Miller G.L., Maw E., Russell L.M.
Proc. Ent. Soc. Wash. 108: 583-610, 2006
Full text

Data on 262 aphid spp. considered adventive in our area.