Arthropods Daily – Issue No. 312

The summary provides information about pea aphids (Acyrthosiphon pisum), including their generalities and life cycle. Female pea aphids lay fertilized eggs in the autumn, which hatch in the spring. The nymphs undergo four moults before reaching sexual maturity and begin reproducing through viviparous parthenogenesis. Population densities peak in early summer but decrease due to predation and parasitism. Pea aphids can complete their reproductive cycle without changing host plants. The summary also discusses the use of chemical insecticides, natural predators, and resistant cultivars for protecting crops from pea aphids. Additionally, it mentions that pea aphids are considered a model organism for studying symbiosis, asexual reproduction, polyphenism, and gene duplication. The summary further highlights the pea aphid's endosymbiotic relationship with Buchnera aphidicola bacteria and its vulnerability to parasitoid wasps and the fungal pathogen Pandora neoaphidis, which can potentially be used as biocontrols.