Zoology in the Middle East

ISSN: 0939-7140 (Print) 2326-2680 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/tzme20

New aphid records for Saudi Arabia (Hemiptera:

Aphidoidea)

Sabir Hussain, Yousif Aldryhim, Hathal Al-Dhafer, Susan E. Halbert & Jacob
Thomas

To cite this article: Sabir Hussain, Yousif Aldryhim, Hathal Al-Dhafer, Susan E. Halbert & Jacob
Thomas (2015): New aphid records for Saudi Arabia (Hemiptera: Aphidoidea), Zoology in the
Middle East, DOI: 10.1080/09397140.2015.1101927

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09397140.2015.1101927

Published online: 08 Oct 2015.

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 Zoology in the Middle East, 2015
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09397140.2015.1101927

New aphid records for Saudi Arabia (Hemiptera: Aphidoidea)

Sabir Hussaina, Yousif Aldryhima*, Hathal Al-Dhafera, Susan E. Halbertb
and Jacob Thomasc
a
King Saud University Museum of Arthropods (KSMA), Plant Protection Department, College of
Food and Agriculture Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; bDivision of Plant
Industry, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Gainesville, Florida;
c
Department of Botany and Microbiology, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh,
Saudi Arabia

(Received 1 June 2015; accepted 19 September 2015)

Downloaded by [King Saud University] at 14:01 08 October 2015

Fourteen species of aphids (Hemiptera: Aphidoidea) are recorded as new to Saudi

Arabia. These are: Aphis coreopsidis (Thomas, 1878); Aphis illinoisensis Shimer,
1866; Baizongia pistaceae (Linnaeus, 1767); Capitophorus elaeagni (del Guercio,
1894); Dysaphis plantaginea (Passerini, 1860); Eucarazzia elegans (Ferrari, 1872);
Geoica lucifuga (Zehntner, 1897); Hayhurstia atriplicis (Linnaeus, 1761);
Macrosiphoniella absinthii (Linnaeus, 1758); Macrosiphoniella sanborni (Gillette,
1908); Smynthurodes betae Westwood, 1849; Uroleucon cichorii (Koch, 1855), and
Wahlgreniella nervata (Gillette, 1908). Among these, three species, i.e. A. coreop-
sidis, A. illinoisensis, and W. nervata are alien species.
Keywords: Insecta; Aphidoidea; aphids; new records; adventive species; Saudi Ara-
bia

Introduction
Aphids are one of the most common insects and they are very easily transferred to new
countries and continents (Petrović-Obradović et al., 2010). A total of 98 aphid species
has been introduced into Europe from other continents, mostly from other temperate
regions of the world (Coeur d’acier, Hidalgo, & Petrović-Obradović, 2010). In Saudi
Arabia, 64 aphid species have been recorded so far (Talhouk, 1969; Martin, 1972;
Aldryhim & Khalil 1996; Hussain, Aldryhim, & Al-Dhafer, 2015). As not much atten-
tion has been given to this insect group in this region so far, we documented the aphid
fauna in areas which had not been surveyed before.

Material and Methods

Aphids were surveyed between March 2013 and April 2015. Samples were collected from wild
and non-native plants by using beating sheets, and from yellow water pan traps. Additionally,
aphids were examined from another insect survey using pitfall traps. All aphids were preserved in
75% ethanol in labelled vials, and field notes were taken. The aphid specimens were mounted on
slides. Aphids were identified using the works of Medler and Ghosh (1969), Van Harten, Ilharco,
and Prinsen (1994), Aldryhim and Khalil (1996), Blackman (2010) and Blackman and Eastop
(2013), and reference specimens in the King Saud University Museum of Arthropods, Plant Pro-
tection Department, College of Food and Agriculture Science, Riyadh, King Saud University
(KSMA) and the Florida State Collection of Arthropods (FSCA). Slide mounted voucher speci-
mens were deposited in the KSMA.

*
Corresponding author. Email: aldryhim@ksu.edu.sa

© 2015 Taylor & Francis

 2 S. Hussain et al.

Results
Fourteen aphid species belonging to 12 genera were recorded for the first time in Saudi
Arabia. The recorded aphid genera were new to Saudi Arabia except Aphis, Dysaphis,
and Uroleucon.

Aphis coreopsidis (Thomas, 1878)

Material: Abha, 21.x.2014, from a pitfall trap, one (alata) viviparous female.

Aphis illinoisensis Shimer, 1866

Material: Wadi Turubah, 23.v.2013, 27.ix.2013, 4.vi.2014, 5.vi.2014, on Vitis vinifera,
19 (apterae) and five (alate) viviparous females.

Baizongia pistaceae (Linnaeus, 1767)

Material: Wadi Turubah, 4.vi.2014, 6.vi.2014 in yellow water pan trap, four (alate)
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viviparous females.

Capitophorus elaeagni (del Guercio, 1894)

Material: Wadi Turubah, 6.iii.2013 on Poaceae; Al Mukuwah, 7.iii.2013 on Aerva ja-
vanica, four (apterae) viviparous females. These host plants are not common host for
this aphid species.

Dysaphis plantaginea (Passerini, 1860)

Material: Al Bahah city, 23.v.2013, 30.iv.2014 in yellow water pan trap, two (alate)
viviparous females.

Eucarazzia elegans (Ferrari, 1872)

Material: Wadi Turubah, 24.iv.2013, 22.v.2013, 23.v.2013 on Lavandula pubescens,
five (apterae) and two (alate) viviparous females.

Geoica lucifuga (Zehntner, 1897)

Material: Raydah, 8.vi.2014 from a pitfall trap, one (alata) viviparous female.

Hayhurstia atriplicis (Linnaeus, 1761)

Material: Bani Farwah, 25.iv.2013 on Chenopodium glaucum, four (apterae) and one
(alata) viviparous females.; Wadi Turubah, 23.v.2013 on Sorghum bicolor, four (alate)
viviparous females.; Al Bahah city, 23.v.2013, 3.vi.2014, 6.vi.2014, 15.viii.2014 on
Atriplex suberecta, 15 (alate) viviparous females.; Al Bahah city, 23.v.2013, 3.vi.2014,
4.vi.2014, 13.viii.2014 on yellow water pan trap, 144 (alate) viviparous females. Sor-
ghum bicolor has not been reported by Holman (2009) and Blackman & Estop (2013).
Sorghum bicolor is probably not the true host for this aphid species, but only being
visited.

Macrosiphoniella absinthii (Linnaeus, 1758)

Material: Wadi Fig, 1.v.2014 on Artemisia absinthium, 11 (apterae) and two (alate)
viviparous females.

Macrosiphoniella sanborni (Gillette, 1908)

Material: Wadi fig, 1.v.2014 from Ambrosia sp., two (apterae) viviparous females.

Smynthurodes betae Westwood, 1849

Material: Al Bahah city, 25.iv.2013 on Poaceae, one (alata) viviparous females.
 Zoology in the Middle East 3

Tetraneura sp.
Material: Wadi Turubah, 23.v.2013 on Vigna sp., one (alata) viviparous females. It
seems that the Tetraneura sp. is visitor on Vigna sp.

Uroleucon cichorii (Koch, 1855)

Material: Al Bahah city, 30.iv.2014 on Cichorium intybus, three (apterae) viviparous
females.

Wahlgreniella nervata (Gillette, 1908)

Material: Biljureshi, 22.v.2013, 30.iv.2014 on Rosa sp., five (apterae) viviparous fe-
males.

Discussion
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The present study added 14 aphid species new to the aphid fauna of Saudi Arabia. With
these new additions, the number of species recorded in the country rises to 78 species.
Three aphid species Aphis coreopsidis, Aphis illinoisensis, and Wahlgreniella nervata
were aliens. Among the alien aphid species inventoried, Aphis illinoisensis has the
greatest agricultural importance (Remaudière, Sertkaya, & Özdemir, 2003). This species
is recorded first the time from the Arabian Peninsula and could be new threat for grape
production in the region. Wahlgreniella nervata is new invasive alien species in the
Arabian Peninsula. This species has been reported a serious pest of the hybrid Damask
Rose, Rosa damascena in Turkey due to an accidental introduction becoming estab-
lished (Barjadze et al., 2014). This species is a pest of cultivated rose in North America.
It infests the flowers, living among the petals.

Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to Boris Kondratieff (Colorado State University) for critical reviewing of
the manuscript.

Funding
This project was funded by the National Plan for Science, Technology and Innovation
(MAARIFAH), King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,
Award Number (12-ENV2484-02).

Disclosure Statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

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