Bird cherry-oat aphid (''Rhopalosiphum padi'') is an
aphid
Aphids are small sap-sucking insects and members of the superfamily Aphidoidea. Common names include greenfly and blackfly, although individuals within a species can vary widely in color. The group includes the fluffy white woolly aphids. A t ...
in the superfamily
Aphidoidea in the order
Hemiptera
Hemiptera (; ) is an order (biology), order of insects, commonly called true bugs, comprising over 80,000 species within groups such as the cicadas, aphids, planthoppers, leafhoppers, Reduviidae, assassin bugs, Cimex, bed bugs, and shield bugs. ...
. It is a true bug and sucks sap from plants. It is considered a major pest in cereal crops, especially in temperate regions, as well as other hosts in parts of Northern Europe.
It is the principal vector of many viruses in economically important field crops.
Host plants and distribution
''R. padi'' has a worldwide distribution and according to research, they can colonize a number of dicotyledon host plants, although their preference is within
monocotyledon
Monocotyledons (), commonly referred to as monocots, (Lilianae ''sensu'' Chase & Reveal) are grass and grass-like flowering plants (angiosperms), the seeds of which typically contain only one embryonic leaf, or cotyledon. They constitute one of ...
plant groups much like the closely related ''
R. maidis'' and ''
R. rufiabdominale''. The main plant hosts are categorized and listed below but as the name suggests, the primary host is ''
Prunus padus'', where it overwinters as eggs.
In Northern America, it is found to overwinter on ''
Prunus virginiana
''Prunus virginiana'', commonly called bitter-berry, chokecherry, Virginia bird cherry, and western chokecherry (also black chokecherry for ''P. virginiana'' var. ''demissa''), is a species of bird cherry (''Prunus'' subgenus ''Padus'') nat ...
'' (common choke-cherry).
In spring, it attacks all major cereals and pasture grasses; particularly
barley
Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley pr ...
,
oat
The oat (''Avena sativa''), sometimes called the common oat, is a species of cereal grain grown for its seed, which is known by the same name (usually in the plural, unlike other cereals and pseudocereals). While oats are suitable for human con ...
s,
wheat
Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...
and other
Gramineae
Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns and ...
plant species. It is also commonly found in
maize
Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...
growing regions.
Virus vector
Bird cherry-oat aphid can vector a number of serious diseases including the
barley yellow dwarf virus
Barley yellow dwarf (BYD) is a plant disease caused by the ''barley yellow dwarf virus'' (BYDV), and is the most widely distributed viral disease of cereals. It affects the economically important crop species barley, oats, wheat, maize, tritical ...
(BYDV), the
cereal yellow dwarf virus–RPV,
filaree red leaf virus,
maize leaf fleck virus, and
rice giallume virus. It is also known to cause
oat yellow leaf disease and the
onion yellow dwarf virus.
Natural enemies
A number of aphidophagous arthropods feed on ''R. padi'' and can reduce their population density. Because of ''R. padi''
's distribution at the base of cereal stems, generalist predators such as
carabids and
spider
Spiders ( order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species ...
s can reduce their population density.
In addition, more specialist predators include adults and larvae of
Coccinellids,
hoverfly
Hover flies, also called flower flies or syrphid flies, make up the insect family Syrphidae. As their common name suggests, they are often seen hovering or nectaring at flowers; the adults of many species feed mainly on nectar and pollen, while ...
larvae and
lacewing
The insect order Neuroptera, or net-winged insects, includes the lacewings, mantidflies, antlions, and their relatives. The order consists of some 6,000 species. Neuroptera can be grouped together with the Megaloptera and Raphidioptera in t ...
larvae, as well as adult
parasitoid wasps
Parasitoid wasps are a large group of hymenopteran superfamilies, with all but the wood wasps (Orussoidea) being in the wasp-waisted Apocrita. As parasitoids, they lay their eggs on or in the bodies of other arthropods, sooner or later causi ...
in the subfamily
Aphidiinae
The Aphidiinae are a subfamily of tiny parasitoid wasps that use aphids as their hosts. Several species have been used in biological control programs of various aphids.
Biology and distribution
Aphidiines are koinobiont endoparasitoids of ad ...
.
References
Further reading
AphID - Rhopalosiphum padiAgroAtlas - Pests - Rhopalosiphum padi Linnaeus - Bird Cherry Oat Aphid.*
ADW: Rhopalosiphum padi: CLASSIFICATION
{{Taxonbar, from=Q4330572
Aphidini
Agricultural pest insects
Insects described in 1758
Hemiptera of Europe
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus
Insect pests of millets