Updated Checklist of Food Plants of Species of Sitobion Mordvilko, 1914 (Macrosiphini: Aphididae: Hemiptera) in India

Abstract

Present article deals with the food plants of the species of Sitobion genus (Aphididae: Hemiptera) in India. Total 26 species of the genus Sitobion are recorded, out of which almost half of them are monophagous feeding on one or two plant species belonging to one or two families. Six species are polyphagous feeding on 12 to 81 plant species. Sitobion (Sitobion) miscanthi (Takahashi, 1921) is highly polyphagous (feeding on 81 plant species) followed by Sitobion (Sitobion) avenae avenae (Fabricius, 1775) (feeding on 37 plant species), Sitobion (Sitobion) indicum Basu, 1964 (feeding on 32 plant species), Sitobion (Sitobion) rosaeiformis (Das, 1918) (feeding on 30 plant species), Sitobion (Sitobion) aulacorthoides (David, Narayanan and Rajasingh, 1970 (1971)) and Sitobion (Sitobion) luteum (Buckton, 1876) (each feeding on 12 plant species). A total of 152 species (24 species of plants identified upto generic level only) of food plants belonging to 33 families of plants serve as food plants of these aphid species. The family Poaceae is the largest family having 65 species of food plants for Sitobion spp. followed by Orchidaceae (20 plant species), Rosaceae (11 plant species), and Asteraceae (10 plant species), and less than 10 plant species each of other 28 plant families. Few species of the genus Sitobion are major pests of agricultural and horticultural crops. The wheat or grain aphid, Sitobion avenae and Indian cereal aphid, Sitobion miscanthi are major pest of wheat and millets in some parts of India.