Russian Wheat Aphid vs Arctic Aphid

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Russian Wheat Aphid Arctic Aphid
Scientific Name Diuraphis noxia Acyrthosiphon svalbardicum
Order Hemiptera Hemiptera
Family Aphididae Aphididae
Size 1.5-2 mm 1-3 mm
Habitat Farmland Tundra & Arctic
Diet Sap Feeders Herbivores
Regions Worldwide cereal-growing regions Svalbard, Arctic Scandinavia, Greenland
Conservation Not Evaluated Least Concern

Russian Wheat Aphid

A pale elongated aphid that causes leaf rolling and white streaking on wheat and barley. It injects toxins while feeding that are uniquely damaging to cereal crops.

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Did You Know?

It caused over $1 billion in damage to U.S. wheat crops within just a few years of its arrival in 1986.

Arctic Aphid

A small, pale green aphid that is one of the most northerly herbivorous insects on Earth. It feeds on the sap of Dryas octopetala and other Arctic plants. Populations are entirely parthenogenetic in the High Arctic.

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Did You Know?

This aphid reproduces entirely without mating in the Arctic, producing live young that are clones of the mother.