Stats

Lifespan: A few weeks
Size: Tiny
Diet: Herbivore
Activity: Cathemeral
Social: Colony
Biome: Subtropical shrubland
Range: Mediterranean
Movement: Walking
Breeding: Live Birth
Defense: Warning Colors
Status: Common

About

The oleander aphid is a vivid yellow insect with jet-black legs and cornicles that colonises milkweed and oleander in dense clusters. Nearly all individuals are female — populations reproduce entirely by parthenogenesis, with mothers giving birth to live genetic clones.

Life cycle

1.
egg
A small egg is laid on or near the larval food source and hatches within days or weeks.
2.
juvenile
An immature insect feeds and molts, growing through successive instars.
3.
subadult
A near-adult insect has wing buds or near-mature form, one molt away from full size.
4.
adult
Fully grown, with full wings and adult coloration.

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Taxonomy

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hemiptera
Family: Aphididae
Genus: Aphis
Species: Aphis nerii