French agricultural production is the highest in Europe. The overall territory in France extends over nearly 55 million hectares and agriculture takes up 30 million of these areas. Cultivated plants therefore constitute an extremely important food resource for the aphids. Like wild plants, cultivated species harbour from one to several species of aphids which can reproduce on every level of the plant from the roots upto the flowers. Contrary to natural ecosystems, for aphids cultivated fields are rather unusual as living spaces, characterized as they are by a small number of species of plants available only for the designated growing period. Cultivation practices and treatment operations also pose constraints that aphids have to adapt to.

Here the major aphid species affecting crop plants are presented. The crop plants are grouped together by botanical family. The aphids are only sensitive to the physiological and biochemical characteristics of plants and function independently from the cultivation methods followed. Therefore in the same botanical family the same aphid species can be found again.

The aphids are grouped as frequent or occasional species and, where appropriate, as root aphids. They are followed by a list of parasitoids, which in turn are grouped together as frequent or occasional species.

For each botanical family, you will find identificationkeys concerning the aphidsand also a list of their hymenopteran  parasitoids.