Scientific name: Schizaphis graminum (Rondani)
Common name: Wheat Aphid; Greenbug
Ethiopian name: Yesinde Kish Kish
Order: Homoptera
Family: Aphididae
HOSTS:
Main hosts: Many cereals and grasses
IMPORTANCE IN ETHIOPIA:
Major pest of: Wheat
Minor pest of: Barley
DAMAGE:
The aphids are found in colonies on the plants. Sap sucking on the leaves often causes yellowing and other phytotoxic effects. This species is known to be a vector of virus diseases.
INSECT BIOLOGY & RECOGNITION:
Apterae: The apterae are small aphids with a rather elongate oval shape. The head and prothorax are yellowish or greenish straw coloured. The rest of the thorax and the abdomen are yellowish green to bluish green with a darker spinal stripe.
Alatae: In alatae the head and prothorax are brownish yellow. The abdomen is yellowish green to dark green.
In both apterae and alatae the siphunculi are pale but usually have dark apices. Apterae and alatae are 1.3-2.1 mm long.
REMARK:
Several other species of aphids have been recorded on cereals in Ethiopia.