Aulacorthum solani (Kaltenbach, 1843)

Morphological characters

1.8-3 mm.
Apterous: abdomen glossy, green to yellow with darker spot at base of cornicles, which are straight, long and pigmented at tips.
Alate: green with transverse streaks darker, antennae long and dark, cornicles straight and long with a flange at tip, wing veins smudged.

See identification file

Life cycles

Dioecious holocyclic, anholocyclic in regions with mild climate.

Host plants

Highly polyphagous.
Primary hosts: Digitalis (foxglove), Hieracium (hawkweed).
Secondary hosts: Apiaceae, Asteraceae: Lactuca (lettuce), Brassicaceae: Brassica spp (cabbage, turnip), Solanaceae: Solanum spp (potato, tomato) and numerous other plants: Tulipa (tulip) for example.

Particular characteristics

Highly polyphagous, A. solani colonizes numerous open-field crops or others under shelter where it causes extensive damage.
This species is highly widespread in temperate regions.

Agronomic impact

A. solani is a frequent pest of greenhouse crops (on photo: damage on Calceolaria, lady’s purse).
It is the vector of numerous viruses that depend on persistent and non-persistent modes such as: cucumber mosaic virus (CMV), beet yellow virus (BYV), or beet western yellow virus (BWYV)..

Natural enemies 

Predators
 

Parasitoids : 

• Aphelinus asychis
• Aphelinus flavipes
• Aphidius ervi
• Aphidius matricariae
• Aphidius urticae
• Diaeretiella rapae
• Praon volucre