Classification

Aphidinae: Aphidini

Common name(s)

Spirea / Spiraea aphid, apple aphid

Diagnosis

Small aphid, often curling and distorting leaves near stem apices of host plants, or on flower heads, and usually ant-attended. Body bright greenish yellow or yellowish green to apple green, head brown. Legs and antennae mainly pale but siphunculi and cauda dark brown to black. Alatae with head and thorax dark brown, abdomen yellowish green with a dusky lateral patch on each segment. Antenna almost half the length of body. Abdominal tergum smooth, without any patch.

The aphid resembles A. gossypii, but it has dark, pitchy black cauda as compared to dusky cauda of A. gossypii, which also has relatively fewer hairs. However, this character develops only in the late instars and earlier instars have pale cauda. A. spiraecola colony is always uniform in colour. The aphids collected on C. odorata and Sonchus sp. show reddish head and thorax, somewhat similar to Aulacorthum magnoliae.

Distribution

Throughout India; North America; Mediterranean region; Africa; Australasia.

Host plant(s)

Asteraceae: Ageratum conyzoides L., Aster amellus L., Bidens pilosa L., Chromolaena odorata (Linn.) King & Robs., Dahlia variabilis Desf., Mikania micrantha (Linn.) Kunth, Parthenium hysterophorus L., Sonchus sp.; Araliaceae: Aralia sp.; Nyctaginaeceae: Bougauinvillia spectabilis L.; Fabaceae: Cajanus cajan (Linn.) Millsp.; Solanaceae: Cestrum diurnum H.B. & K., Solanum melongena Wall; Rutaceae: Citrus sp.; Araceae: Colocasia sp.; Convolvulaceae: Ipomoea fistulosa Choisy; Verbanaceae: Lantana camara L.; Lythraceae: Lawsonia alba Lam.; Magnoleaceae: Michelia champaka L.

Measurements

Aptera: Length of body 1.69, width 0.67; antennae 0.81, segments III: IV: V: VI 0.24: 0.16: 0.14: (0.14+0.23); u.r.s. 0.12; h.t.2 0.08; siphunculus 0.21; cauda 0.16.
Alata: Length of body 1.59, width 0.61; antennae 0.80, segments III: IV: V: VI 0.22: 0.15: 0.14: (0.11+0.23); u.r.s. 0.11; h.t.2 0.09; siphunculus 0.19; cauda 0.15.

Seasonal occurrence

Throughout the year.

Natural enemies

Coleoptera: Coccinellidae: Platynaspidius bimaculatus (Pang & Mao), Cheilomenes sexmaculata (Fabricius), Coccinella transversalis Fabricius, Harmonia dimidiata (Fabricius), Harmonia eucharis (Mulsant), Hippodamia variegata (Goeze), Oenopia kirbyi Mulsant, Oenopia sauzeti Mulsant, Pseudaspidimerus flaviceps (Walker), Pseudaspidimerus trinotatus (Thunberg), Hyperaspis maindroni Sicard, Scymnus (Pullus) latemaculatus Motschulsky, Scymnus (Pullus) pyrocheilus Mulsant.

Diptera: Syrphidae: Betasyrphus serarius (Wiedemann), Dideopsis aegrota (F.), Eupeodes confrater (Wiedemann), Paragus serratus (F.), P. indicus Brunetti, P. tibialis (Fallen), P. yerburiensis Stuckenberg, Ischiodon scutellaris (F.), Episyrphus balteatus (De Geer).

Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae: Aphelinus mali (Haldeman), A. albipodus Hayat & Fatima.

Braconidae: Lipolexis scutellaris Mackauer.

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	Habitus