Horned Aphid vs Greenhouse Whitefly

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Horned Aphid Greenhouse Whitefly
Scientific Name Tuberaphis styraci Trialeurodes vaporariorum
Order Hemiptera Hemiptera
Family Hormaphididae Aleyrodidae
Size 1-2.5 mm 1-1.5 mm
Habitat Forests Underground
Diet Sap Feeders Fungus Feeders
Regions Japan, East Asia Worldwide
Conservation Not Evaluated Not Evaluated

Horned Aphid

A social aphid from East Asia that forms colonies defended by sterile soldier nymphs with horned heads. They live on styrax trees and produce a single soldier caste.

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Did You Know?

Soldiers stab intruders with their sharp horns and inject a toxic secretion, dying in the process like a honeybee's suicide sting.

Greenhouse Whitefly

A white-winged sap-feeding insect commonly found in greenhouses and warm climates. Adults and nymphs produce honeydew that leads to sooty mold growth on plants.

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Did You Know?

The parasitoid wasp Encarsia formosa has been commercially reared since the 1920s specifically to control this whitefly.