#tuberolachnus

[bugsfromtokyo]

Giant willow aphids and a Japanese carpenter ant.

[drhoz]

One of the mysteries about the Giant Willow Aphid

“After 15 years of studying them and two PhD students having a really close look, we still don't know what the shark fin is for - and we also don't know where the aphids disappear to every November”

[drhoz]

A colony of the obligatory clonal aphid Tuberolachnus salignus waves legs when disturbed (I moved my hand near them).

[drhoz]

Can you help discover where the Giant Willow Aphid disappears to? More: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-36402048

[drhoz]

#1277 - Tuberolachnus salignus - Giant Willow Aphid

Spotted by Ella Tessalaar in SW Victoria. The world’s largest species of aphid, over 5mm long.

The Giant Willow Aphid was originally found in Europe, but over the last few years it’s become noteworthy as a potential pest of  willows grown for bioenergy production. Most information in the scientific literature is from the last two decades, and from Europe. Earliest reports from Australasia were in December, 2013 from Auckland, New Zealand, and it’s now well-established in SW Australia too. It’s not necessarily a problem, here, because the willows are an invasive pest themselves.

No males of the species have ever been found, so it seems to rely entirely on parthenogenesis to reproduce, and kicking and horrible taste to protect itself.

In Japan, the aphid is parasitised by the braconid Aphidus salignae, and hyperparasitised by the ichneumonid  Pauesia salignae.