Phylogeny and morphological evaluation of the genus Aphis (Homoptera: Aphididae)

Aphis, one of the largest genera in the family Aphididae, contains many species that are pests of agriculturally important crops and research needs require accurate identification. No comprehensive key to Aphis exists and species identification is difficult. Members of this genus have a close association with a wide diversity of plants and the available dichotomous keys rely on host plant associations to identify species in this group. This research combines morphological, biological, ecological (host plant-association) and molecular data to increase the accuracy of Aphis identification. An online 3I key including morphological and biological information on Midwest Aphis spp. is available at: http://ctap.inhs.uiuc.edu/lagos/index.asp. Sequence data from the mitochondrial gene COI, as well as the nuclear gene EF-1 alpha and 16S rDNA of the aphid endosymbiont Buchnera are included in the phylogenetic analysis of the Midwest species of Aphis.