This bug might sound boring, but that’s why I’m here to talk about it and tell you very interesting things about it. Uroleucon Rudbeckiae is a bug that is located in Orange County California at San Joaquin fresh water Marsh, Irvine.

Uroleucon Rudbeckiae is about 3 to 4 millimeters long. The coloration is intermediate; it is red in life as in Uroleucon. It sometimes can be dark brown. The adaptations are herbivorous and insects must, therefore produce cholesterol by metabolizing plant steroids. Insects generally display diversity in phytosterol metabolism.

Uroleucon is one of very few aphid genera that have species indigenous to South America.  A new species of aphid from Chile is described and illustrated, Uroleucon Eumadiae. Living on the two South American species of the genus Madia (Asteraceae): Some characters are discussed and the characters by which this aphid species may be distinguished from related ones are given. The long, hairy last rostral segment of the new species suggests strongly a feeding adaptation, and parallels that of a North American Madia - feeding species in the same genus which is not, however, closely related.

Aphids originated in the late cretaceous about 100 million years ago, but the aphidinae which comprises about half of the 4700 described species and genera of aphids alive today came from their most recent radiation which occurred in the late tertiary.

This bug might have sounded boring at first but once you get to know more information you will be very interested, Members of the aphididae are softbodied, pear-shaped insects called aphids, as are other members of the super family Aphidoidea. Most of them have a pair of little tubes, called cornices. This insect is very small (a few millimeters in length), so small that they can be transported by wind through fairly long distances. They are often green, but might be red or brown as well. They move quite slowly and cannot jump or hop.

Author: Micaela L.
Published: 3/13

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/aphididaehttp://bugguide.net/node/view/4486383

Picture: www.springerlink.com