Dusky-tailed sunflower aphid

Dusky-tailed sunflower aphid is a medium-sized aphid. It occurs in the United States from Maine to Virginia, west to Minnesota and Illinois, with scattered records south to Florida and west to California. It occurs in southern Canada from Quebec to Saskatchewan.

Adults and nymphs feed on the juices of stems, leaves, and flowers. They have been recorded feeding on hairy sunflower (Helianthus hirsutus) and rough oxeye (Heliopsis helianthoides var. scabra).

Adults are 7⁄64″ to 9⁄64″ (2.7 to 3.4 mm) in length. The body is red to reddish brown, soft, and somewhat pear-shaped. There are no small rounded bumps (tubercles) on the sides of the abdomen. There is a pair of elongated, finger-like processes (cornicles) near the end of the abdomen. The cornicles are dark and they have a network of lines on the outer half. The tail-like appendage (cauda) is mostly pale, but it is dark (dusky) just at its tip. This is the feature that gives the species its common name.

The head is small. There are two well-developed lumps (antennal tubercles), each of which bears a single antenna. The tubercles diverge outwards and their sides are smooth. The antennae have six segments and are about as long as the body. The third segment has 5 to 14 sensory patches (secondary rhinaria) and has 1⁄64″ to 5⁄256″ (.04 to .05 mm) long hairs. The beak-like projection of mouthparts (rostrum) is long, reaching to or beyond the bases of the rear pair of legs. The terminal segment of the rostrum is 0.75 to 0.95 times as long as the base of the terminal antennal segment.

The legs are black and pale.

Total length: 7⁄64″ to 9⁄64″ (2.7 to 3.4 mm)

hairy sunflower (Helianthus hirsutus)

rough oxeye (Heliopsis helianthoides var. scabra)

Plant juices