Aphids under Foldscope from the IISER Bhopal campus.

Dec 03, 2018 • 12:56 AM UTC

Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India

140x Magnification

Microorganisms

Pritam

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Aphids are mostly tiny sap-sucking insect belongs to Aphidoidea (Superfamily). They are mostly greenish and blackish in color, but coloration varies widely from species to species. These tiny insects excrete very sweet nutrient droplets, known as honeydew which is very much preferred by various Ants. Ants collect honeydew from aphids and give them protection from other predators in return. It is a very well-known example of a mutualistic relationship of Animal kingdom . During the sampling in our IISER Campus in Bhopal, MP for Moss and Lichen, w e saw two different kinds of aphids associated with two different host plant and guarded by the same ants of species. Aphid species associated with the Calotropis sp (Host Plant) are larger in size with a bright yellowish color and black spine-like structures on the dorsal side whereas the other one with unknown host plant, black in coloration smaller with the transparent spine-like structure on the back. We collected a few samples of both aphids and observed under Foldscope.