Colin Favret

• Ph.D.
• Professor (Associate) at Université de Montréal

Lachnine aphids are unusual among phytophagous insects because they feed on both leafy and woody parts of both angiosperm and conifer hosts. Despite being piercing-sucking phloem-feeders, these aphids are most speciose on woody parts of coniferous hosts. To evaluate the significance of this unusual biology on their evolution, we reconstructed the a...

Computer-automated identification of insect species has long been sought to support activities such as environmental monitoring, forensics, pest diagnostics, border security and vector epidemiology, to name just a few. In order to succeed, an automated identification programme capable of addressing the needs of the end user should be able to classi...

The Ouellet-Robert Entomological Collection (Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada) is one of the largest and most important university collections in Canada. Although officially dedicated in 1984, much of the material in the collection dates to the 1930s and 1940s work of the Clerics of Saint Viator, Joseph Ouellet and Adrien Robert. In...

Comparing ecologically relevant communities of insects in heterogeneous environments requires methods capable of sampling a sufficient number of individuals and diversity of species to measure β diversity. A battery‐operated computer fan powers a 1.5 m high Voegtlin suction trap. These traps are efficient at capturing small, weakly flying insects,...

Much of what has recently been written about taxonomy has focused on negatives in the face of a heterogeneously defined taxonomic impediment. The current review takes a step back from the rhetoric to explicate the modern science of taxonomy with a new practical model, "the five 'D's": taxon discovery, delimitation, diagnosis, description, and speci...

Thirty-one species of Cinara Curtis (Hemiptera: Aphididae) are recorded from Japan, including five that are undescribed. We here formally describe one of the five, Cinara stigmatica sp. nov., from viviparous apterous females on two species of Abies Miller (Pinaceae). Morphological and molecular diagnoses are provided. Specimen data are simultaneous...

A new species of gall-forming aphid from China, Qiao jinshaensis gen. et sp. nov., is described from Rhus wilsonii Hemsl. Morphological identification and molecular analyses both support the establishment of a new genus. A diagnosis combining morphological and molecular characters from alate viviparae is provided and specimen metadata are published...

Dr Roger Laurence Blackman (Fig. 1) passed away on 17 March 2022, after more than 50 years dedicated to advances in aphid science. There can be very few scientists studying any aspect of aphids whose papers have not cited the works of Roger Blackman. To his name, we add that of Victor Eastop (1924–2012), for the two of them formed an inspirational,...

We describe apterous and alate viviparous females of a new species of the Lachninae genus Eulachnus (Eulachnini) from China. The new species, Eulachnus blackmani sp. nov., can be easily separated from other Asian representatives of this genus: the ultimate rostral segments are without accessory setae; the spinal scleroites are larger than the pleur...

We examined 1367 apterous viviparae from 151 samples to study Aphis craccivora, A. tropaeoli and a third, possibly new species in Argentina, resembling both. Principal component analysis (PCA), followed by hierarchical clustering of principal components (HCPC), revealed clusters based on 33 morphological characters of 206 selected specimens. The de...

The inoculation of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi and rhizobia in legumes has been proven to increase plant growth and yield. To date, studies of the effects of these interactions on phytophagous insects have shown them to be context-dependent depending on the inoculant strain, the plant, and the insect species. Here, we document how a symbiosis...

The cascading effects of microbe–plant symbioses on the second trophic level, such as phytophagous insects, have been most studied. However, few studies have examined the higher third trophic level, i.e., their natural enemies. We investigated the effects of the symbiotic associations between an arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungus, Rhizophagus irreg...

The use of belowground microorganisms in agriculture, with the aim to stimulate plant growth and improve crop yields, has recently gained interest. However, few studies have examined the effects of microorganism inoculation on higher trophic levels in natural conditions. We examined how the diversity of phytophagous insects and their natural enemie...

Background: The Odonata, dragonflies and damselflies, constitute one of the more charismatic and better-studied orders of insects. The approximately 6,000 extant species on Earth can be variously found on all continents, except Antarctica. A relatively stable taxonomy, a relative ease of species identification and an aquatic immature stage has mad...

Abstract Climate adaptation has major consequences in the evolution and ecology of all living organisms. Though phytophagous insects are an important component of Earth's biodiversity, there are few studies investigating the evolution of their climatic preferences. This lack of research is probably because their evolutionary ecology is thought to b...

Phorodon cannabis Passerini (Hemiptera: Aphididae: Macrosiphini) is reported for the first time as a pest of Cannabis L. crops in North America. The insect has been confirmed from fields of industrial hemp in Colorado and Virginia and has been found present within greenhouses in at least several American states and one Canadian province. The generi...

Species of the genus Essigella Del Guercio, 1909 (Hemiptera: Aphididae) are known to be specific to one or a few related species of Pinaceae hosts. The current Essigella classification includes 15 species-group taxa, inferred with morphological and ecological data. We present a phylogeny of Essigella using maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference...

Morphological and molecular data are used to describe three new species of Essigella (Sternorrhyncha: Aphididae: Lachninae): Essigelladomenechisp. n. , Essigellagagnonaesp. n. , and Essigellasorensenisp. n. ; and to re-establish as valid Essigellapatchae Hottes, 1957, stat. n. , until now considered a synonym of E.pini Wilson, 1919. The catalogue o...

The three species of Hyalopterus Koch cause economic damage to various stone fruit trees of the genus Prunus L., H. pruni (Geoffroy), H. amygdali (Blanchard), and H. persikonus Miller et al. Although the third species was established recently, it has been suggested that one of the twelve older synonyms of the first two may be applicable to the thir...

The purpose of this application is to conserve usage of the name Adelgidae Schouteden, 1909 for a family of conifer-feeding insects, some species of which are important forestry pests. Although it has nomenclatural priority, Pineini Nüsslin, 1909 is alternately considered a subordinate taxon to or a synonym of Adelgidae. Meanwhile, Chermaphidinae H...

Here we describe the presence of the monotypic and poorly known aphid genus Pseudessigella Hille Ris Lambers (Hemiptera: Aphididae: Lachninae) in India. So far, the genus has only been known from Punjab, Pakistan. Representatives of P. brachychaeta Hille Ris Lambers were collected from Pinus wallichiana A.B. Jacks. in the Yousmarg region of the sta...

Aphids in the pine-feeding Nearctic genus Essigella (Sternorrhyncha, Aphididae, Lachninae) have been introduced in Europe, North Africa, Oceania, and South America. Mitochondrial, nuclear, and endosymbiont DNA sequences of 12 introduced populations from three continents confirm they all belong to Essigella californica (Essig, 1909). Intron sequence...

The aphid tribe Eulachnini is unusual in being both diverse in species number and specializing on conifer hosts. The Bhutan pine aphid Pseudessigella brachychaeta Hille Ris Lambers, 1966; the only known species of its genus and native of the Himalayan region, displays characteristics of both the Palearctic genus Eulachnus and the Nearctic Essigella...

The proprioceptive function of a campaniform sensillum is to perceive stresses and changing forces on the cuticle, facilitating insect locomotion including walking and flight. In the aphid genus Mindarus (Hemiptera: Aphididae), campaniform sensilla are often clustered in groups and are found at specific locations on the insect's appendages. Ring-sh...

A taxonomic and nomenclatural catalog of the phylloxerids (Hemiptera, Phylloxeridae) is presented. Six family-group names are listed, three being synonyms. Thirty-five genus-group names, of which six are subjectively valid, are presented with their type species, etymology, and grammatical gender. Ninety-four species-group names are listed, of which...

In North America, there is a morphologically defined group of Aphis species that use Cornus spp. as primary host plants and also are associated with plants in the family Apiaceae. We refer to them collectively as the Aphis asclepiadis species group and attempt to elucidate the taxonomic status of its members using sequences of mitochondrial cytochr...

We report 39 species, belonging to 22 genera of aphids (Hemiptera: Aphididae), collected within and near the boundary of the Valles Caldera National Preserve in the Jemez Mountains of northern New Mexico, USA. Of these, 26 (67%) represent new distribution records for New Mexico. Plant genera/species from which the specimens were collected also are...

A taxonomic and nomenclatural Catalogue of the adelgids (Hemiptera: Adelgidae) is presented. Six family group names are listed, five being synonyms of Adelgidae. Twenty-two genus-group names, of which nine are subjectively valid and in use, are presented with their type species, etymology, and grammatical gender. One hundred and six species-group n...

The valid scientific name for the hemlock woolly adelgid is affirmed to be Adelges tsugae Annand. A discrepancy between the names Adelges funitectus (Dreyfus) and A. tsugae in the historical literature is investigated and resolved. The generic (or subgeneric) name Aphrastasia should not be applied to Adelges tsugae, as this species is not closely r...

The collophore of Entomobrya multifasciata (Tullberg) (Collembola: Entomobryidae) is composed of four segments. The third segment telescopes in and out of the second and the fourth is an eversible vesicle that is entirely enclosed in the third when not deployed. Low temperature scanning electron micrographs document that the collophore may remain a...

Table S2. Morphological characters useful to discriminate Aphid gossypii, Aphid monardae, Aphid oestlundi and Aphid sedi.

Table S1. Collection information.

The cotton aphid, Aphis gossypii, is one of the most biologically diverse species of aphids; a polyphagous species in a family where most are host specialists. It is economically important and belongs to a group of closely related species that has challenged aphid taxonomy. The research presented here seeks to clarify the taxonomic relationships an...

Biodiversity sciences have progressed at such a pace that the taxonomic community has been unable to grow concomitantly to keep up with the influx of biological data. This "taxonomic impediment" has led some to suggest that taxonomy is no longer pertinent and to the development of methodologies that circumvent the taxonomic process. The present art...

The genus-group name Chermes Linnaeus 1758 has been suppressed, but an accounting of the various nominal species described in combination with it has not been presented until now. Nominal species of Chermes are found in 13 families of three major lineages of Sternorrhyncha (Aphidomorpha, Coccoidea, Psylloidea). Eleven available names remain unplace...

1. cope slide-mounted insect specimens present special problems for DNA extraction due to chemical clearing techniques and subsequent specimen preservation. 2. Filter paper is routinely used for DNA storage in other biological disciplines (e.g. medicine), but is not widely used in entomology. 3. A system for room temperature storage of DNA with mic...

Biodiversity science and conservation increasingly depend on the sharing and integration of large amounts of data, but many researchers resist sharing their primary biodiversity data. We recently conducted an international survey to ascertain the attitudes, experiences, and expectations regarding biodiversity data sharing and archiving of researche...

The syntypes of Siphonophora fragariae var. immaculata Riley were rediscovered in the aphid collection of the United States of America National Museum of Natural History. The name (S. fragariae immaculata) previously being largely lost and forgotten, we here establish it as the senior synonym of Macrosiphum euphorbiae (Thomas). Reversal of preceden...

We fix and describe the neotype of the cotton aphid, Aphis gossypii Glover, and publish its DNA barcode.

During 2003–2006, a general aphid survey was conducted in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in the American states of Tennessee and North Carolina. The project was undertaken within the context of the All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory and funded by Discover Life in America. In all, 121 aphid species were documented. When present, attendant ants...

The aphidologist community attending the Seventh International Symposium on Aphids in Fremantle (Western Australia, 2005) entrusted to us the preparation of a Part of the List of Available Names in Zoology devoted to the aphid genus-group taxa names, and this to be presented at the subsequent aphid symposium. During the course of our work (Nieto Na...

Wing venation, two-dimensional and with easily recognized reference points at vein junctions, presents an opportunity for the development of automated insect identification. Using a suite of continuous characters, I investigated the use of wing morphometry for computerized insect identification of cryptic species of the aphid genus Mindarus. A prio...

Many aphids harbor a variety of endosymbiotic bacteria. The functions of these symbionts can range from an obligate nutritional role to a facultative role in protecting their hosts against environmental stresses. One such symbiont is “Candidatus Serratia symbiotica,” which is involved in defense against heat and potentially also in aphid nutrition....

Examination of DNA sequences of the 5' end of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I gene of Aulacorthum solani (Kaltenbach) (Hemiptera: Aphididae) reveals little variation between samples from broad geographic provenances. The apparent genetic similarity despite A. solani's morphological and biological differences contrasts with the species comple...

Declines in many bumble bee species have been documented in Europe raising several ecological and economic concerns. The nature and extent of bumble bee decline in North America is poorly understood due mainly to a lack of baseline and long-term data. Museum collections provide excellent sources of information on past and current species distributi...

for it to contain all the published taxonomic and synonymic information for all Aphidomorpha taxa, extinct and extant, including Aphidoidea, Phylloxeroidea (Adelgidae and Phylloxeridae) and related taxa. Along with a complete list of aphid names and a taxonomic bibliography, Aphid Species File can also serve specimen data and publish interactive el...

While preparing a proposal for a Part of the List of Available Names in Zoology devoted to the aphid genus-group names, we found errors of nomenclatural importance for 95 names. We here present corrections and clarifications for these genus-group names with precise reference to the rules of nomenclature established in the International Code of Zool...

Since the publication of the Catalog of the Aphid Genera Described from the New World (Favret et al. 2008), several errors and omissions have come to light. We here make corrections to seven genus-group names and add 17 valid and nine invalid generic names, raising the total number of available New World genus-group names to 232. Future nomenclatur...

The types of Aphis mali var. fulviventris, var. nigricollis, var. nigriventris, var. obsoleta, var. pallidicornis, var. tergata, var. thoracica, and var. triseriata (all Fitch 1855) were rediscovered in the aphid collection of the United States of America National Museum of Natural History. Previously considered nomina dubia, we here establish them...

A pestiferous species of Mindarus (Hemiptera: Aphididae: Mindarinae) presents challenges for the cultivation and conservation of the endangered Guatemalan fir, Abies guatemalensis Rehder. The aphid, Mindarus guatemalensis n. sp., is described.

A nomenclatural and bibliographic catalog of the genus-group names of aphids (Hemiptera: Aphidoidea) from the New World is presented. The catalog includes 206 available genus-group names with type species with New World localities, full bibliographic citations, and other associated nomenclatural and taxonomic information. Two nomenclatural discrepa...

Quantitative methods for assessing the health of a natural history collection are of paramount importance for prioritizing the investment of time and resources and ensuring the long-term stability and usability of a collection's invaluable specimens.

Nearly 5,000 historical and contemporary specimen records of stoneflies (Plecoptera) from Illinois demonstrated that this fauna is highly imperiled, boding poorly for aquatic insect communities in North America and elsewhere. Losses include two extinctions of endemics and 20 extirpations of 77 total species, a rate of loss that is higher than for e...

The Cinara species (Hemiptera: Aphididae: Lachninae) found on Pinus edulis Engelm. and P. monophylla Torr. & Frém. are revised and now include eight species. Included are redescriptions of the viviparous apterae and alatae of C. atra (Gillette & Palmer), C. caliente Hottes, C. edulis (Wilson), C. puerca Hottes, C. tanneri (Knowlton), C. terminalis...

Cinara edulis (Wilson), C. terminais (Gillette and Palmer), and C. wahtolca Hottes were all larger when feeding on Pinus monophylla Torr. & Frem. than when feeding on P. edulis Engelm. Almost all nonsetal morphometric characters were longer in aphids on the former of these pinyon pines. Although mouthpart characters also followed this pattern of si...

Parasite-host cospeciation has received much attention as an important mechanism in the diversification of phytophagous insects. However, studies have shown that for certain taxa, it is not host fidelity but host-switching that plays the critical role in speciation. Cinara are aphids (Insecta: Hemiptera: Aphididae: Lachninae) that feed exclusively...

Iowana frisoni Hottes was collected and studied for the first time since its original collection in 1925. It was found in remnant prairies where it fed on the basal stem of the endemic plants Silphium laciniatum L. and S. terebinthinaceum Jacquin (Asteraceae). Later in the season it fed on the stem or leaf stipules within the cavity created by the...

Databasing of all Ephemeroptera and Plecoptera specimens in the Illinois Natural History Survey Insect Collection has recently been completed. Both databases are Internet-searchable in a simplified format (http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/cbd/EPT/index.html). Analysis of the databases shows that the Plecoptera are at a much better level of determination th...

Paired suction traps were used to study the habitat choice of migrating aphids in adjacent crop and natural habitats in east central Illinois. Traps were placed in a row-crop field and a restored prairie for 4 yr at one site, and a row-crop field and a wooded plot for 3 yr at another. Row crops were corn or soybean, rotated annually. We did not wis...

No field of learning functions independently of its history, and the science of entomology is no exception. Although modern scientific advances have rendered obsolete much of the work of the late nineteenth century entomologist Jean-Henri Fabre, to understand Fabre is to understand our scientific heritage. Fabre's crowning achievement is a set of t...

The concept of the key innovation has been central to discussions of specialization and adaptive radiation in herbivorous insects. Rarely, however, have key innovations been defined mechanistically; typically, a key innovation is described broadly as a complex suite of traits (e.g., the ability to feed on angiosperm plants). Identifying the molecul...