Aphids
Abstract
What is an aphid? Aphids are small, soft-bodied insects that feed by inserting their slender mouthparts into phloem cells, the food conduits of plants. Most aphid species feed on only one species of plant and closely related aphid species tend to feed on closely related species of plants. Once an aphid finds the correct plant species, it simultaneously feeds and reproduces. Offspring settle close to their mothers, spawning large colonies. Newborn nymphs molt four times, each time growing larger but otherwise looking similar to their previous incarnation.
- Publication:
-
Current Biology
- Pub Date:
- 2008
- DOI:
- 10.1016/j.cub.2008.03.034
- Bibcode:
- 2008CBio...18.R504S