This is the first record ofProciphilus (Meliarhizophagus) frax-
inifolii(Riley) in Serbia and second in Europe. From May of
2006 until November of 2006, colonies of this aphid wereobserved on Fraxinus pennsylvanicain Belgrade (New Bel-
grade, Zemun) and Subotica. Remaudičreand Ripka
(2003) found it on one tree of an American species of FraxinusAN INVASIVE SPECIES OF APHID, PROCIPHILUS FRAXINIFOLII(HEMIPTERA, APHIDIDAE,
ERIOSOMATINAE), FOUND IN SERBIA. Olivera Petrović-Obradović1
, Ž. Tomanović2
, L. Poljako-
vić-Pajnik3
,andAndja Vučetić1
. 1
Faculty of Agriculture, University of Belgrade, 11080 Belgrade-Zemun,
Serbia; 2
Institute of Zoology, Faculty of Biology, University of Belgrade,11000 Belgrade, Serbia; 3
Institute of
Lowland Forestry and Environment, 21000 Novi Sad, SerbiaKey words: Hemiptera, Aphididae, Prociphilus fraxinifolii, Serbia
UDC 595.754 (497.11)9PArch. Biol. Sci., Belgrade, 59 (1), 9P-10P, 2007. DOI:10.2298/ABS070109PPFig. 1. Prociphilus fraxinifolii(Riley): a – apterous viviparous female, left: dorsal side of living aphid, right: ventral side of mounted aphid; b – anten-
na in alatae of viviparous female.
in Budapest, Hungary. The aphid seems to be quickly expand-
ing its distribution in Serbia, developing colonies on many red
ash trees there. The host plant, red ash (Fraxinus pennsylvani-
ca), a North American species of Fraxinus, was introduced in
Europe more than two hundred years ago. The aphid Proci-
philus fraxinifolii is widely distributed in the USA, Canada, and
Mexico and was introduced to Chile and South Africa
(Blackmanand Eastop, 1994).
As all members of the genus Prociphilus,P. fraxinifolii
has well-developed wax glands and is snow-white in appear-
ance due to enormous quantities of wax (Fig. 1a, left side).
Siphuncular pores are absent. Body color of all forms of P. frax-
inifoliiis yellow-green to pale green. Colonies of compact
aphids live in curled leaves on the tips of twigs throughout the
vegetation period. P. fraxinifoliiis monoecious on American
Fraxinus spp. where ant-attended colonies can be found all year
round on roots and sexuparae emerge in October-November
(Blackmanand Eastop, 1994). Its biology in Europe has
not yet been studied. However, by the beginning of November
in Belgrade there were no oviparous females or males in thevery large colonies on almost yellow and falling leaves.
On Fraxinus excelsior, a native European ash, two species
of Prociphilus have been found in Serbia (Petrović-
Obradović, 2003). Both, P. bumeliae(Schr.) and P. fraxini
(Fabr.), leave Fraxinusin early summer and fly to roots of their
secondary hosts - Abies(Heie, 1980). Apart from that differ-
ence in biology, P. fraxinifolii can be easily distinguished from
P. bumeliaeand P. fraxiniby morphology of the antennae of
alatae. At the base of anntenal segment VI in alatae of P. frax-
inifolii there are 1-5 almost circular secondary rhinaria (Fig 1b),
which are missing in P. bumeliaeand P. fraxini.
Acknowledgement: This study was supported financially by the Min-
istry of Science and Environment Protection of the Republic of Serbia.
References: Blackman, R. L, and Eastop, V. F. (1994). Aphids on the
World’s Trees. Cab International, viii + 986 pp. - Heie, O. E. (1980).
Fauna Entomologica Scandinavica, 9, 1-236. - Petrović-Obradović, O.
(2003). Faculty of Agriculture, University of Belgrade, 160 pp. –
Remaudičre, G., and Ripka, G. (2003). Revue française d’Entomologie
(N.S.), 25(3): 152. 10P
