''Aphis genistae'' is an
aphid of the
family Aphididae.
Distribution
This species can be found in most of
Europe eastward to Ukraine and Turkey, and in the
Nearctic realm
The Nearctic realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting the Earth's land surface.
The Nearctic realm covers most of North America, including Greenland, Central Florida, and the highlands of Mexico. The parts of North America t ...
(it has been introduced to North America).
Description
''Aphis genistae'' can reach a length of . Apterae are black, coated with wax meal, while alatae have 4-8 secondary rhinaria.
[Aphids on Worlds Plants]
/ref>
Biology
These insects mainly feed on small branches and flowers of ''Genista anglica
''Genista anglica'', the petty whin, needle furze or needle whin, is a shrubby flowering plant of the family Fabaceae which can be found growing in Cornwall, Wales and eastern Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, ...
'', ''Genista lydia
''Genista lydia'', Lydian broom, dwarf broom, or common woadwaxen (a name it shares with ''Genista tinctoria''), is a species in the genus ''Genista'', native to the Balkans, Turkey and Syria. It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award ...
'' and ''Genista tinctoria
''Genista tinctoria'', the dyer's greenweed or dyer's broom, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae. Its other common names include dyer's whin, waxen woad and waxen wood. The Latin specific epithet ''tinctoria'' means "used as a ...
'' (hence the species name), but they have also been collected on Laburnum, Cytisus, Petteria, Spartium and Sophora species.[Wink, M.; Witte, L.]
Storage of quinolizidine alkaloids in Macrosiphum albifrons and Aphis genistae (Homoptera: Aphididae), Entomol. Gener., 1991, 15, 4, 237-254
/ref> These aphids sometimes have a mutualistic relationship with ants. They are holocyclic (sex is involved, leading to egg production) and oviparae. Sexual females mate with the alate males in September to produce overwintering eggs.[
]
Bibliography
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* Kaltenbach (1843), Monographie der Familien der Pflanzenläuse (Phytophthires), P. Fagot, Aachen 222 pp
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References
External links
{{Taxonbar, from=Q14085318
genistae
Insects described in 1763
Taxa named by Giovanni Antonio Scopoli