Publication details
Voškovky (Sternorrhyncha) Plant lice
| Title in English | Aphids (Sternorrhyncha) Plant lice |
|---|---|
| Authors | |
| Year of publication | 2025 |
| Type | Chapter of a book |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Description | The state of knowledge and protection of whiteflies (Sternorrhyncha). Wax bugs are inconspicuous, tiny, and often only slightly sclerotized insects. Many taxa are similar at first glance and can only be distinguished using high-quality microscopic techniques on micro-preparations. Wax bugs live mainly on plants. They mostly feed on sap from plants, which they pierce with their piercing-sucking mouthparts. Several species form galls (bumps) on plants. Aphids are more or less specialized in their diet – they are often monophagous, bound to individual genera or species of host plants, or oligophagous, feeding on a wider range of related plants (e.g., within a single plant family). Some taxa (e.g., many scale insects or the summer generations of some dioecious aphids) are polyphagous. When feeding, aphids produce large amounts of honeydew, which is an attractive food source for other animals (e.g., ants, bees, wasps, and birds), fungi (e.g., Ascomycota: Capnodiales), and bacteria. Some taxa of aphids transmit phytopathogenic bacteria and viruses. Aphids can cause significant damage to commercially grown crops and ornamental plants through their presence and transmission of pathogens. However, most species are of no economic importance. |