Resumen

SIMBAQUEBA C., Ronald; SERNA, Francisco  y  POSADA-FLOREZ, Francisco Javier. CURATORSHIP, MORPHOLOGY AND IDENTIFICATION OF APHIDS (HEMIPTERA: APHIDIDAE) DEPOSITED IN THE UNAB ENTOMOLOGICAL MUSEUM . FIRST APPROXIMATION. Bol. Cient. Mus. Hist. Nat. Univ. Caldas [online]. 2014, vol.18, n.1, pp.222-246. ISSN 0123-3068.

Aphids are succivorous, polyphagous insects that attack an important number of crops. Damages are of economic importance and may be lethal to plants since aphids are adapted to transmit different viruses, while sucking sap juices. Aphids live in symbiotic association with ants. Ants protect and move them from one place to another, and receive honeydew as reward. We developed a voucher collection of aphids housed at the UNAB Museum, following a modified protocol for the curatorial process. Specimens were collected and processed through different chemicals for cleaning, clearing and mounting on microscopic slides, where the collecting data were included in a label. We also pursued to find useful characters both old and new ones for a descriptive morphology of Aphididae, and for the identification keys. Illustrations and measurements were made using an optic microscope (400X), with a grid. Pictures were taken with a simple camera adapted to a microscope, and organized on Photoshop. Aphids are diagnosable as pyriform, small (4-8 mm) soft bodied hemipterans, with a pair of dorsal cornicles or siphuncles on abdominal segment fifth or sixth. Genital plate is the sternite of segment VII, and the cauda corresponds to the tergite of segment IX. Head opisthognathous, with frontal or antennal tubercles. Our first approximation to the curatorial process of the aphids at the Central Taxonomic Collection of the UNAB Museum assembles 18 species, represented by 579 specimens from 18 municipalities and a total of 34 host plants. For these species, we produced identification keys, taxonomic diagnosis, and illustrations.

Palabras clave : aphids; curatorial process; morphology; taxonomy; identification keys; diagnosis.

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