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Aphidinae : Aphidini : Schizaphis wahlgreni : spp. list
 

 

Schizaphis wahlgreni

Pale-tailed sedge aphid

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

Identification & Distribution

Adult apterae of Schizaphis wahlgreni are pale to medium green. The antennae (apart from segments I, II and the basal half of III), the apices of femora and tibiae, the tarsi and the siphunculi are dark. The cauda is pale or dusky (cf. Schizaphis pilipes & Schizaphis variegata in Europe, which both have a dark cauda). The antennae are 6-segmented, and are about 0.7 times the body length (cf. Schizaphis pilipes & Schizaphis variegata, which have antennae about 0.5 and 0.6 times body length respectively). The terminal process is 4.3-4.5 times the length of the base of antennal segment VI. The hairs on antennal segment III are about as long as the basal diameter of that segment. The rostrum reaches to the middle coxae, with the apical segment a little longer than the second hind tarsal segment. The dorsal cuticle is membranous, with reticulation. There are small marginal tubercles on the prothorax and abdominal tergites I and VII, and sometimes on tergites II and VI. The spinal hairs on abdominal tergites I-III are much shorter than the marginal hairs, and the femora and tibiae have long hairs, the longest about twice the greatest tibial diameter. The siphunculi are about twice as long as the cauda, almost smooth, and slightly constricted below a distinct flange. The cauda has about 5 hairs. The body length of adult Schizaphis wahlgreni apterae is about 2.1 mm.

Images above copyright Marko Šćiban, all rights reserved.

The alate Schizaphis wahlgreni (not pictured) does not appear to have been described. Immature Schizaphis wahlgreni (see picture below) are similar to the adult apterae, but with dusky rather than dark siphunculi, and with antennal segment III mainly pale.

Image above copyright Marko Šćiban, all rights reserved.

Past reports all give bladder sedge (Carex vesicaria) as the host, although there was some uncertainty about this by some authors, including in the initial report and description from Ossiannilsson (1959). There is also an unconfirmed report of it having been found on the common spike-rush (Eleocharis palustris) in Latvia. Schizaphis wahlgreni is assumed to be monoecious holocyclic. Schizaphis wahlgreni has been found on in Sweden, Poland, Czech Republic and Hungary, and (with this report) now in Serbia.

 

Other aphids on the same host

Schizaphis wahlgreni has till now only been recorded from Carex vesicaria, to which we can now add Carex otrubae.

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Marko Šćiban for permitting us to reproduce his images of Schizaphis wahlgreni.

We have used the species accounts given by Ossiannilsson (1959) (as Rhopalosiphum wahlgreni) and Heie (1986), together with information from Roger Blackman & Victor Eastop in Aphids on Worlds Plants. We fully acknowledge these authors and those listed in the reference sections as the source for the (summarized) taxonomic information we have presented. Any errors in 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

  • Heie, O.E. (1986). The Aphidoidea (Hemiptera) of Fennoscandia and Denmark. III. Fauna Entomologica Scandinavica 17, 1-316.

  • Ossiannilsson, F. (1959). Contributions to the knowledge of Swedish aphids. I. Descriptions of some apparently undescribed forms. Kungl. Lantbrukshogskolans 25, 1-46.