Aphis lugentis is an aphid species relatively common in North America, feeding primarily on Senecio, a genus of the daisy family. This aphid species had recently been found in southern France and in a new publication, we document its presence across the Mediterranean in Tunisia, as well as in South America, namely Argentina, Chile, and Peru. In order to confirm the identity of our samples, we examined them under the microscope and sequenced their barcode gene. Publication of the note in the Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington implicated eight co-authors from four countries, including two undergraduate interns in the Favret Lab.

Ortego J, Ayadi M, Ben Halima Kamel M, Juteau V, Marullo-Masson D, Nieto Nafría JM, Bel Khadi MS, Favret C. 2019. The spread of the North American Aphis lugentis Williams (Hemiptera: Aphididae) to Africa and South America. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington, 121(1): 128-134. DOI: 10.4289/0013-8797.121.1.128