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Hormaphidinae : Cerataphidini : Aleurodaphis blumeae
 

 

Aleurodaphis blumeae

Wax-crested purple scale aphid

On this page: Identification & Distribution Other aphids on the same host

Identification & Distribution

Adult apterae of Aleurodaphis blumeae are pinkish-purple to red-black, with glassy, marginal rays of wax and distinctive white spinal wax markings (cf. Aleurodaphis asteris, which is black). The body of apterous females is aleyrodiform (=whitefly larva shaped), with no frontal horns, and with wax glands arranged along the crenulated (=notched) body margin. The head and prothorax are fused, as are the meso- and mesothorax, and abdominal tergites I-VII; only abdominal tergite VIII is free. The eyes are triommatidia. The rostrum is long, reaching to the third pair of coxae. The apical rostral segment (RIV+V) is slender and long, 4.60-5.67 times as long as its basal width (cf. Aleurodaphis asteris on Asteraceae, which has RIV+V stout and short, less than 3.30 times as long as its basal width). The dorsal hairs are fine and sparse. The first tarsal segments have 3 hairs (cf. Aleurodaphis asteris, which has first tarsal segments with 2 hairs). The dorso-apical hairs on the second hind tarsal segments have funnel-shaped apices. The siphunculi are reduced to very small pores. The cauda is knobbed, clearly constricted at the base, with some long hairs. The anal plate is deeply bilobed, with some strong spiny hairs. The body length of adult Aleurodaphis blumeae apterae is 0.9-1.4 mm.

Note: Zhang & Zhong (1982) described a new species, Aleurodaphis sinisalicis Zhang. Jiang & Qiao (2011) noted that the descriptions of it were accurate, but the morphological characters given in the diagnosis for distinguishing it from other species (antennal length / body length and shape of cauda & anal plate) were wrong. As a result they have synonomized Aleurodaphis sinisalicis with Aleurodaphis blumeae.

First image above copyright Harum Koh; second image copyright Jiang & Qiao (2011);
both under a creative commons licence.

The alate vivipara of Aleurodaphis blumeae has 5-segmented antennae, and secondary rhinaria without cilia. The forewings have the media vein once branched, an extended pterostigma and the two cubital veins (Cu1a & Cu1b) fused or separated at base; the hind wings have two obliques.

Aleurodaphis blumeae is monoecious anholocyclic on various Asteraceae including Aster, Blumea, Carpesium, Chrysanthemum, Cynoglossum, and Erechtites. They live in dense colonies on the stems, and undersides of young leaves, causing slight leaf-curl. Van der Goot (1917) describes first finding the species in 1917 thus: "I found this strange aphid species initially in September in the Tenegger mountains in extremely numerous colonies on the flower stalks and peduncles of a Blumea species. I could only observe unwinged ones, and the same was true when I visited in November of the same year. So at the beginning of the rainy season, I visited the same place again, and succeeded in finding just a few winged ones". Aleurodaphis blumeae is found in east and south-east Asia (China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Taiwan, Assam, Philippines, Java, Malaysia).

 

Other aphids on the same host

Aleurodaphis blumeae has been recorded from 1 aster species (Aster yomena).

Aleurodaphis blumeae has been recorded from 2 Blumea species of (Blumea chinensis =Cyanthillium cinereum var cinereum, Blumea megacephala)

  • Blackman & Eastop only list 1 species of aphid, Aleurodaphis blumeae, as feeding on each of these plant species. Baker (2015) lists none as occurring in Britain.

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Harum Koh & Jiang & Qiao (2011) for making their images of Aleurodaphis blumeae available for use under a creative commons licence.

We have used the species descriptions by van der Goot (1917) and Jiang & Qiao (2011), together with information from Roger Blackman & Victor Eastop in Aphids on Worlds Plants. We fully acknowledge these authors (see references below) as the source for the (summarized) taxonomic information we have presented. Any errors in identification or information are ours alone, and we would be very grateful for any corrections. For assistance on the terms used for aphid morphology we suggest the figure provided by Blackman & Eastop (2006).

Useful weblinks

References

  • Jiang, L-Y. & Qiao, G-X. (2011). A review of Aleurodaphis (Hemiptera, Aphididae, Hormaphidinae) with the description of one new species and keys to species. ZooKeys 135, 41-56. Full text

  • van der Goot, P. (1917). Zur Kenntnis der blattlause Java's Contributions a la faune des Indes Nederlandaises 1(3): (p. 239).

  • Zhang, G-X. & Zhong, T-S. (1982). New species and subspecies of Chinese Aphidoidea. Sinozoologia 2, 26-28. (English version).