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Field and Swamp: Animals and Their Habitats

Whiteflies, Aphids and Jumping Plant Lice (suborder Sternorrhyncha, order Hemiptera, infraclass Neoptera, subclass Pterygota, class Insecta, subphylum Hexapoda, phylum Arthropoda, kingdom Animalia, domain Eukaryota)

Jumping Plant Lice (Psyllidae family, Psylloidea superfamily)


Jumping plant louse (Psyllidae family, Psylloidea superfamily, Sternorrhyncha suborder, Hemiptera order)

Whiteflies (family Aleyrodidae, superfamily Aleyrodidoidea)


Whitefly (about 1 mm long). Boone Greenway Trail, Watauga County, NC, 7/2/10

Aphids (family Aphididae, superfamily Aphidoidea, infraorder Aphidomorpha)

Aphids exhibit great variety, and it's a good idea to be leery of sweeping online generalizations made about members of this family. Some aphid adults typically have wings, e.g., the Winged Pea Aphid (Acyrthosiphon pisum) while others, e.g., the abundant Mealy Plum Aphid (Hyalopterus pruni), develop wings only under certain environmental conditions not directly related to reproduction. All aphids reproduce asexually continually until the onset of winter, when they reproduce sexually once, according to Mader (2004), p. 838.

Beech Blight Aphids (Grylloprociphilus imbricator, Eriosomatinae subfamily)

These aphids gathered in huge numbers on a tree branch at Johnston Mill Nature Preserve, Orange County, NC on 8/31/07. When disturbed, they waved their abdomens, with this white material stuck to them, up and down.


Beech Blight Aphids, Johnston Mill Nature Preserve, Orange County, NC, 8/31/07. ID thanks to Charley Eiseman.

Asian Woolly Hackberry Aphid (Shivaphis celti, Eriosomatinae subfamily)

The air seems to be full of flies on mild late fall and early winter days, but they're actually mostly aphids!


Woolly Aphid, Durham, NC, 10/13/08

English Grain Aphid (Sitobion avenae)


Parent winged aphid (about 2 mm long) with two newborn aphids on a Cattail leaf. ID thanks to Andrew Jensen.

Brown Ambrosia Aphid (Uroleucon ambrosiae)

I've been told that black aphids of this species are dead. But I'm skeptical. I saw a bunch of black aphids that looked very much like these (unaccompanied by red aphids, it's true) and tested this assertion by nudging them. They all moved, and some crossed over to the other side of the leaf they were on. Next time I see red and black aphids together, I'll perform a similar test.


Adult winged Brown Ambrosia Aphid, Haw River State Park, Rockingham County, NC, 5/30/08


Brown Ambrosia Aphids, NC Botanical Garden, Orange County, NC, 5/24/06	Brown Ambrosia Aphids, Durham, 6/19/06	Brown Ambrosia Aphid (Uroleucon ambrosiae), Durham, 6/19/06

Black aphids that are most definitely alive! (Note that the top one is giving birth, to a grayish aphid.) Johnston Mill Nature Preserve, Orange County, NC, 4/17/12

Mealy Plum Aphid (Hyalopterus pruni)


Mealy Plum Aphid giving birth on a cattail leaf. Durham, 6/14/08. Mealy Plum Aphids attack plums in the spring and fall but spend the summer on cattails.	Winged adult and nymph Mealy Plum Aphids, also on a cattail leaf. Durham, NC, 6/14/08	More Mealy Plum Aphids.	Maybe a Mealy Plum Aphid and exuvia. White material on the aphid may be unremoved part of exuvia.

Unidentified Aphids, maybe Pemphigidae family


Aphids, North River Park, Greenville, Pitt County, NC, 11/7/07

Periphyllus genus Aphid


Aphid (Periphyllus genus, Chaitophorinae subfamily), Durham, NC, 7/30/10. ID thanks to Andrew Jensen.

REFERENCES

Mader, S.S. (2004) Biology (8th ed.) NY:McGraw-Hill.

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