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Sticker of Elder aphid
Bug card No. 1521 of 4,939

Elder aphid

Aphis sambuci
Eats: PlantsTrue bugs and cicadasGardens and meadows6 legs

The elder aphid is a tiny blackish or greenish bug that lives in groups on elder bushes. It has a cross-shaped pattern on its back. At its tail end it has two short black tubes that stick out.

Lives in
Across the northern half of the world, on elder bushes
Top speed
about 0.01 km/h (0.01 mph)
On foot, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless to people. It only drinks juice from plants.
What does it eat?
It sucks plant juice, mostly from elder bushes.
For real!Photo of Elder aphid
Picture by Lark999. CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

It lives mostly on black elder bushes, but in North America it is also found on red elder.

2

Some have white stripes on their belly or white edges on their back.

3

It was named by Carl Linnaeus in 1758, the scientist who gave many animals their official names.

4

It lives all across the northern half of the world, but not in Japan or Korea.

you asked

Most asked questions about Elder aphid

?What does the elder aphid eat?

It sucks juice from elder bushes.

?Is the elder aphid harmful?

Not to people. It only drinks juice from plants.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Aphis sambuci
Named by
Linnaeus, 1758
Group
True bugs and cicadas
Family
Aphididae
Classification
Insecta > Hemiptera > Aphididae
Lives on
Europe, Asia, North America
Also known as
Elderberry aphid

Where the facts come from

  1. Aphis sambuci (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by Lark999. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.

If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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