Plant penetration by feeding aphids (Hemiptera, Aphidoidea): a review

Abstract

The factors responsible for determining the host-plants and feeding sites of aphids, and the various probing activities (the role of the labium, stylet insertion, surface saliva deposition, the behaviour of the aphid, virus transmission) are examined. There is a brief review of stylet structure and movement and the possible sensory nature of these organs, followed by a detailed review of the characteristics of aphid stylet paths in plant tissues. The penetration of epidermis and vascular tissues is treated separately while that within the intermediate tissues is covered in relation to leaves and stems, roots, trees, galls and excised tissue as well as in separate sections on Aphis fabae Scopoli and Myzus persicae(Sulzer). Stylet destinations and behaviour in the sieve tubes are discussed together with general features such as rate and depth of penetration, guidance to the feeding site, effects of tissue hardness and stylet withdrawal. The ingestion rate of plant sap is reviewed and its constitution and importance examined together with the significance of artificial diets. The salivary secretions including sheaths and tracks, their functions and their role in the transference of material between aphid and host are dealt with. The nature of the physical and internal damage resulting from aphid feeding is briefly covered, and also some plant-insect interrelations. The aphid species whose stylets have been examined in plant tissue are listed.