Crop Aphids Back Pocket Guide

Vocabulary flashcards covering key crop aphid species, diagnostic anatomical structures, plant damage signs, monitoring strategies, and biological control agents based on the GRDC Back Pocket Guide.

Apterous aphid

The wingless form of an aphid, which is generally the easiest form to use for distinguishing between aphid species.

Alate aphid

The winged form of an aphid.

Aphid anatomy

Key body parts of an aphid, including the head, antenna, tubercle, prothorax, mesothorax, metathorax, abdomen, siphunculus, and cauda.

Russian wheat aphid (Diuraphis noxia)

An aphid species with a pale green to yellow-green spindle-shaped body, very short siphunculi, and an extra appendage above the cauda giving a '2-tailed' appearance.

Oat aphid (Rhopalosiphum padi)

An aphid species featuring a pear-shaped olive-green to green body with a rust-red colour around and between the bases of its two siphunculi.

Corn aphid (Rhopalosiphum maidis)

An aphid species with a dark green to blackish oblong-shaped body and dark patches at the base of each siphunculus, commonly forming colonies in the furled emerging leaves of tillers.

Rose-grain aphid (Metopolophium dirhodum)

A green to yellow-green aphid with a darker green stripe down the middle of its thorax and abdomen, and long antennae reaching beyond the base of its siphunculi.

Green peach aphid (Myzus persicae)

An oval-shaped aphid varying from shiny pale yellow or green to orange, pink, or red, with well-developed inwards-turned tubercles at the junction of the antennae and head.

Cabbage aphid (Brevicoryne brassicae)

A dull grey-green aphid with dark bars on the abdomen that forms dense bluish-grey colonies covered with whitish-grey wax, giving them a mealy appearance.

Turnip aphid (Lipaphis pseudobrassicae)

An olive to greyish-green aphid with two rows of bands on the thorax and abdomen, forming dense colonies covered with a fine waxy coating.

Bluegreen aphid (Acyrthosiphon kondoi)

A green to grey or bluish-green aphid with very long siphunculi and long antennae that progressively darken from the base to the tip.

Pea aphid (Acyrthosiphon pisum)

A shiny pale yellow to green aphid identified by dark knee joints, dark bands on its antennal segments, long siphunculi, and a long cauda.

Cowpea aphid (Aphis craccivora)

A shiny black aphid with contrasting white and black legs and dull grey, wax-dusted nymphs, associated with photosensitisation in livestock.

Faba bean aphid (Megoura crassicauda)

A broadly spindle-shaped green aphid with distinct black siphunculi, cauda, abdomen tip, head, prothorax, mesothorax, and legs, mostly host-restricted to Vicia species.

Spotted alfalfa aphid (Therioaphis trifolii)

A pale yellow-green aphid distinguished by 6 or more rows of tiny raised spots and hairs across its abdomen and thorax.

Soybean aphid (Aphis glycines)

A pale yellow-green aphid with black siphunculi that feeds on soybean and other Glycine species.

Honeydew

A sugary liquid secreted by aphids during heavy infestations that can promote secondary fungal growth, inhibiting plant photosynthesis.

Aphid paddock sampling strategy

A crop monitoring protocol recommending inspection of at least 5 sampling points per paddock and at least 20 plants per point, focusing on undersides of leaves and new growth.

Aphid natural enemies

Beneficial organisms such as parasitoid wasps, hoverflies, lacewings, ladybird beetles, damsel bugs, and aphid-infecting fungi that help suppress aphid populations.