Aphidoidea

Definition

The superfamily of hemipteran insects comprising the aphids (family Aphididae) and their extinct relatives. Members are small, soft-bodied sternorrhynchans characterized by piercing-sucking mouthparts for phloem feeding, typically bearing cornicles (siphunculi) on the posterior abdomen, and exhibiting complex life cycles that often include parthenogenetic vivipary, telescoping generations, and seasonal alternation between host plants.

Etymology

From the genus name Aphis (Greek aphis, possibly 'unwithering' or referring to a plant gall) + -oidea (resembling), the standard suffix for superfamilies.

Example

The superfamily Aphidoidea includes the woolly aphid Eriosoma lanigerum, a pest of apple orchards that produces conspicuous white waxy filaments and alternates between elm (primary host) and apple (secondary host) in its holocyclic life cycle.

Related Terms

• Aphididae
• Sternorrhyncha
• Hemiptera
• cornicle
• Parthenogenesis
• holocycly
• host alternation
• phloem feeder

Usage Notes

Aphidoidea is treated as a superfamily within Sternorrhyncha, though some classifications historically treated Aphididae as the sole family with multiple subfamilies; the superfamily rank is now standard. The group is monophyletic and sister to the phylloxerans (Phylloxeroidea). The term is capitalized and italicized as a formal taxon name.