Name

Aphididae

aphid, aphid

Framing

Phylum: Arthropoda

Subphylum: Crustacea

Class: Hexapoda

Subclass: Insecta

Order: Hemiptera

Suborder: Sternorrhyncha

Family: Aphididae

Habitat

Land. About vegetation. All kinds of plants, on the tender shoots.

Feeding

Fluidophagous herbivore, sap suckers, due to their type of reproduction and life cycles, they live in large groups, causing problems for the plants they feed on. They are considered crop pests.

Distribution

World wide

Conservation status

No threats

Additional information

Homogeneous membranous wings, kept in a canopy during rest. Pyriform body and very small size. Often apterous individuals. At the posterior end of the abdomen there is often a pair of horns (corniculae) which secrete waxy matter and pheromones. They excrete sugary substances through the anus, which are very much to the ants' taste. Complex life cycles, alternating winged and winged forms, usually reproducing by parthenogenesis in spring, followed by normal sexual reproduction. Generalist species and most of them very specialised in specific plants, which helps in their identification.