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Welcome to Encyclop'Aphid : the website for aphid enthusiasts

Aphids are important crop pests, but also fascinating insects due to their particular biological characteristics. There are over 4,000 species worldwide, divided into three families: Phylloxeridae, Adelgidae and Aphididae, the latter being the most important.

Designed by INRAE, Encyclop'Aphid aims to provide a relatively easy-to-use identification aid for aphids, as well as information on their biology and agronomic impact. You'll find descriptive sheets and identification keys for around a hundred of the most common aphid species in France, as well as their natural enemies. You'll also find videos featuring aphids and their natural enemies. You'll also find the latest research carried out by the Adaptive Biology of Aphids and Associated Organisms (BAPOA) network, and short articles to help you get to know these little insects better.

What is an aphid ?

Morphologie de l'ailé

14 June 2024

By: Evelyne Turpeau, Maurice Hullé, Bernard Chaubet

Morphology and identification criteria for aphids

The aphids are insects whose body length, between 2 and 5 millimetres, spans three well differentiated regions: the head, thorax and abdomen.

14 June 2024

By: Evelyne Turpeau, Maurice Hullé, Bernard Chaubet

Life cycles and reproduction

The aphids use two methods of reproduction, sexual and asexual or parthenogenesis. The sexual females are oviparous whereas the parthenogenetic females are viviparous. They give birth directly to young larvae genetically identical to them, able both to feed themselves and move around immediately on emerging. The offspring of a parthenogenetic female are therefore clones. Aphids are multivoltine and can have up to 20 generations per year, depending on climate conditions. Their life cycles are highly variable

14 June 2024

By: Evelyne Turpeau, Maurice Hullé, Bernard Chaubet

Dispersal strategy

The alates ensure the species’ dispersal during the clonal multiplication phase, the change of host plants in the dioecious species and migration of the sexual, male forms and/or gynopara.

14 June 2024

By: Evelyne Turpeau, Maurice Hullé, Bernard Chaubet

Feeding

The aphids are phytophagous and have a piercing and sucking system: their mouthparts are adapted for piercing plant walls and penetrating their tissues as far as the phloem vessels and then taking up the sap containing its nutrients.
bannière

14 June 2024

By: Evelyne Turpeau, Maurice Hullé, Bernard Chaubet

For further information

Additional references and websites for aphid enthusiasts:

Aphids and their environment

14 June 2024

By: Bernard Chaubet

Antagonists

Other than the effects exerted by abiotic factors (wind, rain, heat, cold and so on), natural antagonists limiting aphid populations are essentially insects. The arachnids probably also play an important role. Birds too play their part, among which partridges and blue tits can be significant predators. In the realm of fungi, some can induce full-blown epizootics in aphid colonies.

14 June 2024

By: Bernard Chaubet

Aphids and ants: mutualism

Mutualism is defined as an interaction between species showing themselves to be beneficial for the two protagonists. This is the case of the relations between aphids and ants.

14 June 2024

By: Bernard Chaubet

Aphids and Diptera: cleptotrophobiosis

Aphids excrete a liquid residue from their food, honeydew, composed essentially of sugars and amino acids. The droplets produced (see video) and ejected through the anus are sometimes deposited abundantly on plant foliage.

Aphids and agriculture

Rhopalosiphum padi : virus BYDV

14 June 2024

By: Evelyne Turpeau, Maurice Hullé, Bernard Chaubet

The aphids of crop plants

In a temperate climate, all crop plants are host to at least one species of aphid. Among the 4700 species of aphids, a few tens of them are crop pests.

14 June 2024

By: Evelyne Turpeau, Maurice Hullé, Bernard Chaubet

Trees and shrubs

The aphids colonize cultivated plants but also many others found in our gardens or our environment. In this section, we exhibit the aphids dependent on trees or shrubs.
Myzus persicae : dégât sur nectarinier

14 June 2024

By: Evelyne Turpeau, Maurice Hullé, Bernard Chaubet

Damage caused

Different kinds and extents of damage can be attributed to aphids. The harm can be caused at any stage in the growth of the plants, whatever the size of the surface area of the crop

03 June 2024

By: Evelyne Turpeau, Maurice Hullé, Bernard Chaubet

Viruses

03 June 2024

By: Evelyne Turpeau, Maurice Hullé, Bernard Chaubet

Control strategies

Aphids and research

15 May 2024

By: Antonin Schmitz, Marylène Poirié

Immunity and symbiosis

Sorry but this article has not yet been translated into English

11 April 2024

By: Denis Tagu

Genomics

Aphids and ‘omics development : The aphid international community has developed high throughput approaches of aphid genomes to give bases to the study of adaptation mechanisms of these insects to their environment.

07 February 2023

By: Philippe Giordanengo, Gérard Febvay, Yvan Rahbé

Plant-aphid interactions

Sorry but this article has not yet been translated into English : Les pucerons ingèrent la sève alors qu’elle circule dans les vaisseaux du phloème, grâce à des pièces buccales modifiées en stylets souples percés d'un canal alimentaire et d'un canal salivaire. Ce dernier leur permet d'injecter dans les tissus végétaux des sécrétions salivaires jouant un rôle fondamental dans la recherche, l’acceptation et la manipulation physiologique des tissus cibles.

19 March 2020

By: Mayako Kutsukake

Sociality in the aphid world

15 May 2024

By: Jean-Christophe Simon

Aphids and their symbiotic partners

Aphids have vital relationships with symbiotic bacteria that allow them to feed on sap, an environment poor in nitrogen compounds. They are also infected with other microorganisms, which are not essential for their survival but whose effects on the ecology and evolution of their aphid hosts can be of great importance.

Species

15 May 2024

By: Evelyne Turpeau, Maurice Hullé, Bernard Chaubet

The insect predators of aphids

15 May 2024

By: Evelyne Turpeau, Maurice Hullé, Bernard Chaubet

Parasitoids of aphids

The parasitoids of aphids are spread over two categories: the primary parasitoids and the hyperparasitoids (secondary parasitoids).

15 May 2024

By: Evelyne Turpeau, Maurice Hullé, Bernard Chaubet

The hyperparasitoids of aphids

The hyperparasitoids are Hymenoptera.

15 May 2024

By: Evelyne Turpeau, Maurice Hullé, Bernard Chaubet

Pathogens

14 June 2024

By: Evelyne Turpeau, Maurice Hullé, Bernard Chaubet

Photos from A to K

The photos of aphids have been created from species found in Brittany.

23 July 2024

By: Evelyne Turpeau, Maurice Hullé, Bernard Chaubet

Movies

07 February 2023

By: Evelyne Turpeau, Maurice Hullé, Bernard Chaubet

Photos from L to Z

The photos of aphids have been created from species found in Brittany.

Text to complete.