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National Invasive Species Information Center
U.S. Department of Agriculture
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  2. Terrestrial Invasives
  3. Terrestrial Invertebrates
  4. Russian Wheat Aphid

Russian Wheat Aphid

Scientific Name

Diuraphis noxia (Kurdjumov) (CABI)

Common Name

Russian wheat aphid (RWA)

Native To

Eurasia (Shufran et al. 2007)

Date of U.S. Introduction

First discovered in Texas in 1986 (Michaud and Sloderbeck 2005)

Means of Introduction

Possibly arrived in wheat imported to Mexico from South Africa (Shufran et al. 2007)

Impact

Pest of wheat and barley (Shufran et al. 2007)

Russian wheat aphid, adult

Russian wheat aphid, adult; Kansas Department of Agriculture

Source
Invasive.org.

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Spotlights

  • APHIS Accepts Comments on Environmental Assessment for Release of a Parasitoid Wasp to Control Russian Wheat Aphid

    • May 5, 2020

    • USDA. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

    • The United States Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has analyzed the potential environmental impacts of releasing a parasitoid wasp to biologically control the Russian wheat aphid. The Russian wheat aphid is a wingless, pale yellow-green or gray-green insect lightly dusted with white wax powder that feeds and develops on grass and cereal species. The biological control agent is a small, stingless wasp called Aphelinus hordei that can be used to reduce the severity of damage caused by Russian wheat aphids. Based on our assessment and other relevant data, releasing this biological control agent will not have a significant impact on the quality of the human environment. APHIS invites the public to review and comment on the environmental assessment until June 4, 2020, 30 days after publication in the Federal Register on May 5, 2020. Go to https://www.regulations.gov/docket/APHIS-2020-0009 to comment.

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