Cachryphora

Cachryphora Oestlund

This page updated: December 2024.

A genus of three described species that, as Blackman and Eastop note, are arguably similar to Epameibaphis. Below I present a couple photos of slide mounted specimens with the main purpose of illustrating this interesting similarity. Cachryphora all feed on Solidago, or goldenrods.  I’ve been lucky enough to find two of the three species now.

Cachryphora canadensis Hille Ris Lambers

Back in 2015 I was wandering the streets and parks of Bar Harbor, Maine, and found this aphid on a little plant that I tentatively identified as Solidago. I knew immediately the aphid was something I’d not seen before. It is this cool-looking relative of one of my favorite aphid genera, Epameibaphis.

An apterous vivipara of Cachryphora canadensis from Maine near Bar Harbor. Slide #AJ8009.

Cachryphora serotinae (Oestlund)

Finding this species for the first time several years ago near my then home-town of Moses Lake, Washington was proof number umpteen that even when I think I’ve collected in an area long enough to have found all the aphid species, I am inevitably wrong. I stumbled on this one feeding on a patch of Solidago that was growing among sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) and greasewood (Sarcobatus vermiculatus) on the shoreline of Moses Lake. I suspect that the aphid lived in this situation because the shrubs provided good shelter from the wind.

Cachryphora serotinae, I think this is the fundatrix.
Cachryphora serotinae, I think this is the fundatrix.
An apterous vivipara of Cachryphora serotinae from central Washington state. Slide #AJ3942.