Abstract:  Aphids (superfamily Aphidoidea) are a group of globally distributed piercing-sucking insects, of which there are approximately 5 000 species. Some species such as cereal aphids, the cotton aphid Aphis gossypii, and the peach-potato aphid Myzus persicae threaten agricultural and forestry production. Typically, aphids absorb sap from plant phloem that induces a reduction in crop photosynthate accumulation, and are capable of transmitting more than half of known plant viruses. Furthermore, parthenogenetic reproduction and wing dimorphism facilitate rapid expansion and habitat transfer for aphid population. The strong ecological adaptability of aphids is inextricably linked to the population outbreak and infestation. It remains challenging for developing precise and effective control technologies for aphids due to strong resistance to pesticides caused by short generation time and parthenogenetic reproduction of aphids, and the non-target pests for Bt crops. In recent years, Chinese scientists have made a series of breakthroughs in the aphid genome divergence, the regulation of wingform and reproductive plasticity, salivary protein-mediated mechanisms of feeding and virus transmission, and insect-microbe symbiotic co-adaptation, leading to the development of pest control technologies like RNAi-based breeding for aphid resistance and ecological control by natural enemies. In this article, we summarized the latest advancements in this field in China, outlined the core scientific contributions of included papers, and provided a forward-looking perspective on future research directions such as the functional analysis of salivary glands at the single-cell level, the mechanisms of non-persistent virus transmission, epigenetic regulatory networks, and pest control technologies based on insect-microbe symbiosis, aiming to provide theoretical and practical foundations for scientific research and aphid control.

Key words: Aphids, feeding and virus transmission, pesticide resistance, phenotypic plasticity, genomics, symbionts, pest control technology