APHIDS: NOT ONLY A PEST INSECT

Aphids are considered major pests of crops, as they are sap sucking insects that can inducegreat damage by nutrient drain or other mechanisms, includine virus transmission. Of the organisms proposed for biocontrol of pest insects, fungi producine biactive metabolites are considered promising candidates, and aphids are considered a very good organism for testing their insecticidal properties. Aphids have parthenogenetic reproduction and short generation times that allow rapid increase in population size, and their colonies have numerous individuals that are closely related genetically. Moreover, due to heteromorphism, with wingless and winged morphs, they represent pest insects with different ecological value. Some fungal species produce toxins, and aphids present characteristics that make them excellent test organisms for verifying the toxic activity against target and non-target organisms. The sap sucking behaviour allows them to be used to evacuate crops contaminated by toxigenic fungi. Furthermore, due to the peculiar feature of “telescopic generations” it is possibile to treat and observe the effects of mycotoxins on twoor three generations at a time.