Aphis taraxacicola Borner 1940

Aphis taraxacicola (Börner, 1940)

Aphis plantaginis asiatica Daniyarova, 1979, syn. n.

In 1979 M.M. Daniyarova published an article devoted to the first record of Aphis plantaginis Goetze, 1778 in Tajikistan (Daniyarova, 1979). Apterous and alatae viviparous females of this species, according to Daniyarova, were found in the spring of 1973 and 1974 on root parts and on leaves of Taraxacum officinale Wigg. Daniyarova described the collected morphs and compared them with individuals of Aphis plantaginis from Czechoslovakia and Uzbekistan, which she had at her disposal. She noted that the Tajik aphids differ from Czechoslovak aphids by having shorter hind tibiae (650–820 for aphids from Tajikistan and 890–950 for aphids from Czechoslovakia), by greater sclerotization of cuticle, darker color of cauda, by presence of marginal tubercles on the first five abdominal segments, by different ratio of length of processus terminalis to the length of 3rd antennal segment, and by shorter siphunculi (240–350 for aphids from Tajikistan and 400–450 for aphids from Czechoslovakia). Aphids from Uzbekistan, according Daniyarova, are very similar to the Tajik aphids and differ from them only in that 3rd and 4th antennal segments and base of 6th antennal segment of apterous viviparous females from Uzbekistan are the same length (equivalent measurements of a single individual from Tajikistan for which Daniyarova gave exact data are 3rd antennal segment—280, 4th—190, base of 6th antennal segment—110), and alatae from Uzbekistan have secondary rhinaria only on 3rd antennal segment (aphids from Tajikistan have secondary rhinaria both the 3rd and the 4th antennal segments). On the basis of the great similarity between aphids from Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, and their differences from aphids from Czechoslovakia, Daniyarova described Central Asian aphids as a separate subspecies— Aphis plantaginis asiatica. She suggested that the differences between aphids from Tajikistan and Uzbekistan could be caused by their development on different food plants. Later the same data were published in the work of Narzikulov and Daniyarova (1990).

This subspecies was not included in the catalog of Remaudière and Remaudière (1997), and was not mentioned in the work of Blackman and Eastop (2006). Holman (2009) also did not mention this subspecies in his catalog, but he did record Aphis taraxacicola from Tajikistan on Taraxacum officinale among the data about distribution and food specialization of Aphis taraxacicola (Börner, 1940), referring to Daniyarova (1979) and Narzikulov and Daniyarova (1990) and noting in parentheses that the species was determined by the authors as plantaginis. All the samples from Tajikistan studied by Daniyarova were collected in the spring, when there is an active migration of aphids to new plants and many alatae were present in the colonies. In this situation, a large number of individuals that are intermediate between alatae and apterae may be present in the colonies. Apterous viviparous females described by Daniyarova have a wide sclerotized band on the mesothorax, a sclerotized margins to the metathorax and rhinaria on the antennae, morphological characters that are found in alatiform individuals.

Daniyarova described her new subspecies and compared it with other materials on the basis of a very small number of specimens, but even these data are sufficient to conclude that these individuals are morphologically indistinguishable from Aphis taraxacicola (Börner, 1940) (Tables 3 and 4). Therefore it is clear that Holman was right to consider this Taraxacum -feeding aphid to be A. taraxacicola, and, accordingly, A. plantaginis asiatica Daniyarova, 1979 should be made a synonym of A. taraxacicola (Börner, 1940).

1 — only one specimen

2 — after Heie, 1986

3 — data differ in works of Daniyarova (1979) and Narzikulov and Daniyarova (1990). Measurements of one individual are given in both papers and all measurement data for all characters coincide in these publications, except for the length of the ultimate segment of rostrum (in Daniyarova (1979) - 110, in Narzikulov and Daniyarova (1990) - 120).