Aphis cephalariae Barjadze, 2011, sp. n.
Creators: name: Barjadze, Shalva
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2011
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Aphidomorpha
Aphididae
Aphis
Aphis cephalariae

description: Aphis cephalariae sp. n.
(Table 1, Figs. 1–4)
Material examined: Holotype: on 1 slide, apt.; No. 2009-0001-14, Georgia: Samtskhe-Javakheti region, Ninotsminda district, Near Poka village, N 41 0 22 / 36.3//; E 43 0 46 / 17.7//, 2092 m a.s.l., 17.07.0 9, on Cephalaria gigantea, leg. Barjadze, deposited in Entomology and Biocontrol Research Centre of Ilia State University (EBRC).
Paratypes (all Georgia, from same host and at same depositary): No. 2009-0001-1-13, on 7 slides, 13 apt., 10 al., same locality and data as holotype. No. 2009-0001-15-23, on 5 slides, 9 apt.; Samtskhe-Javakheti region, Adigeni district, meadow along the forest before Zekari Pass, N 41 0 49 / 0 9.8//; E 42 0 50 / 59.8//, 2004 m a.s.l., 14.07.0 9, leg. N. Bakhtadze. No. 2009-0001-24-33, on 5 slides, 10 apt. and 2 al.; Samtskhe-Javakheti region, Adigeni district, Mt. Meskheti range, right bank of the riv. Otskhe, N 41 0 48 / 59.0//; E 42 0 50 / 57.9//, 1920 m a.s.l., 13.07.0 9. No. 2009-0001-1-34-36, on 3 slides, 3 apt. and 6 al.; Samtskhe-Javakheti region, Borjomi district, Tskhratskaro Pass, N 41 0 42 / 50.6//; E 43 0 29 / 45.4//; 1984 m a.s.l. No. 1956-0001-37-38, on 1 slide, 2 apt.; Racha-Lechkhumi-Zemo Svaneti region, Oni district, Riv. Chanchakha gorge, Ghurshevi village, N 41 0 49 / 0 9.8//; E 42 0 50 / 59.8//, 2004 ma.s.l., 0 7.08.1956, leg. A. Dzhibladze. No. 1956-0001-39-41, on 1 slide, 3 apt.; Mtskheta-Mtianeti region, Stepantsminda district, Riv. Truso gorge, Ketrisi village, N42 0 35 /44.39//; E44 0 24 /6.24//, 2170 m a.s.l., 0 7.08.1955, leg. A. Dzhibladze. No. 2004 -0001-42-43, on 1 slide, 2 apt.; Shida Kartli region, Gori district, Mghebriani village, N41 0 47 / 41.08//; E44 0 0 1 / 37.24//, 1420 m a.s.l., 0 3.08.2004. No. 2006-0001-44-49, on 4 slide, 5 apt.; Mtskheta-Mtianeti region, Dusheti district, Roshka village, N42 0 32 / 38.82 //; E44 0 54 /0.87//, 2075 m a.s.l., 0 3.08.2006.
Apterous viviparous females (49 specimens /8 samples)
Color in living specimens: Body black except for pale ANT III, IV and basal half of tibiae.
Color in macerated specimens: ANT I, II, VI brown; ANT III pale; ANT IV, V pale or brown with dark brown apices; head, rostr., coxae and trochanters brown; fore femora dusky; mid and hind femora brown as head or pale only on the basal part; apices of tibiae brown; tarsi brown; SIPH and cauda brown, concolorous; subgenital plate brown; ABD TERG I–VI often with carapace, sometimes with spinopleural bars; ABD TERG VII–VIII with dark bands; ABD TERG I–IV with normal or fragmented marginal sclerites; presiphuncular and postsiphuncular sclerites developed.
Morphological characters: Body oval (Figs. 1–2); Antennae 6-segmented; ANT III with long, acute hairs and without sec. rhin. (Fig. 4.1.); frons with w-shaped outline in dorsal view; rostr. reaching to the middle/hind coxae or just past hind coxae; URS pointed with 2 or 3 accessory hairs (Fig. 4.2); HT II with 2 hairs (Fig. 4.3); SIPH cylindrical, rough, imbricated, with normal flange (Fig. 4.4); subgenital plate oval (Fig. 4.5); cauda triangular or fingerlike, often with a slight constriction in the middle and bearing long and curved hairs and a lot of strong black spinules (Fig. 4.6); Mtu on prothorax large, (35–65 microns diameter); ABD TERG I and VII with large, mammariform Mtu (28–80 microns diameter); ABD TERG II–VI with relatively small Mtu (20–35 microns diameter); ABD TERG II–IV with 4–6 Mtu; longest hairs on ABD TERG III 35 –65 microns; ABD TERG V–VI with 0–2 Mtu; Diameter of Mtu on ABD TERG VII 1.09–2.3x BD III; Diameter of Mtu on ABD TERG VII 0.67–1.41x basal width of SIPH; longest hair on ABD TERG VIII (45–75 microns) 1.43–2.45x BD III; longest hair on ANT VIb 35– 45 microns; Posterior hair on hind trochanter 0.93–1.38x diameter of trochantro-femoral suture.
There are two forms of apterous females in this species: strongly pigmented and poorly pigmented (Figures 1– 2).
Strongly pigmented specimens are large (2.05–2.70 mm); ABD TERG I–VI with carapace in strongly pigmented specimens; ABD TERG I–IV with normal marginal sclerites; Rostr. reaching to the middle or hind coxae; diameter of Mtu on prothorax 35–65 microns; diameter of Mtu on ABD TERG I–VII 40 –85 microns.
Poorly pigmented specimens are small 1.58–1.70 mm; ABD TERG I–VI with spinopleural bars; ABD TERG I–IV with fragmented marginal sclerites; Rostr. reaching or passing the hind coxae; diameter of Mtu on prothorax 35–45 microns; diameter of Mtu on ABD TERG I–VII 28–50 microns.
Strongly and poorly pigmented apterous specimens did not occur in mixed colonies. Pale specimens were collected at two localities (Mghebriani and Roshka villages). They were all collected in August, and their weak pigmentation and small size were probably due to development at high temperature. Quantitative characteristics are given in Table 1.
continued next page Alate viviparous females (18 specimens /3 samples)
Color in living specimens: Body black except basal part of tibiae.
Color in macerated specimens: Head and ANT I–III dark brown, ANT IV–IV light brown or dusky; thorax dark or black; fore femora dusky with brown apices, mid and hind femora brown with pale bases; apices of tibiae and tarsi brown; SIPH and cauda brown; ABD TERG I–VI often with spinopleural bars, sometimes with spinal bars; ABD TERG II–IV with marginal sclerites; presiphuncular and postsiphuncular sclerites developed; ABD TERG VII–VIII with dark bands (Fig. 3).
ANT III with different sized 19–31 sec. rhin (Fig. 4.7), which are scattered on outer side along the whole length of this segment; ANT IV with 0–8 sec. rhin. in one line; ANT V with 0–2 sec. rhin.; rostr. often reaching to the middle or sometimes to the hind coxae; URS, SIPH and subgenital plate as in apterous females; cauda fingerlike with constriction at middle. ABD TERG II–IV with 3–6 Mtu; ABD TERG V–VI without Mtu. Quantitative characteristics are given in Table 1.
Life cycle. Unknown but probably monoecious and holocyclic, living in ant- attended dense colonies on stems of Cephalaria gigantea.
Distribution. Probably coinciding with that of its host plant, which is widely distributed in the Caucasus mountains. Collected in Western Georgia (Racha-Lechkhumi-Zemo Svaneti), Eastern Georgia (Shida Kartli and Mtskheta-Mtianeti) and Southern Georgia (Samtskhe-Javakheti).
Etymology. The specific name is derived from the generic name of aphid’s host plant - Cephalaria gigantea (Dipsacaceae), a Caucasus endemic (Gagnidze, 2005).
description: Published as part of Barjadze, Shalva, 2011, A new species of Aphis Linnaeus (Hemiptera: Aphididae) from Cephalaria gigantea (Dipsacaceae) in Georgia, pp. 39-46 in Zootaxa 2821 on pages 40-44, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.206760