Aphids are soft bodied insects that are capable of multiplying rapidly. The most distinguishing characteristics that they possess are their stylet-like mouthparts and a pair of tublike structures that project from their abdomen, called cornicles. Aphids may be winged or wingless and they usually reproduce asexually, giving birth to live young through a process called parthogenesis in which all the young are females. They grow by shedding their skin, which leaves a "ghost-like skeleton on the leaf.
Aphids feed by sucking plant juices. Some aphids like the greenbug and Russian wheat aphid possess toxic substances in their saliva that causes the plant to become distorted or injured. Others ar able to transmit plant diseases. There are five common aphids that attack winter wheat in the Great Plains. They are the Bird cherry-oat aphid, the Corn leaf aphid, the English grain aphid, the Greenbug, and the Russian wheat aphid. Click on one of the pictures to learn more about each of these aphids.
