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Animal profile

Pea aphid

Acyrthosiphon pisum

InsectaLegume crops and wild legumes in temperate farmland and grassland

Field profile

The pea aphid is a soft, pale green or pink sap-feeding bug of roughly four millimetres that lives on peas, alfalfa, clover and related plants. It reproduces mostly without males in summer and switches to sexual reproduction in autumn. It has become a standard laboratory model for insect symbiosis.

Scope note

This is an editorial profile, not a diagnostic field-identification guide or a substitute for current conservation assessments. Follow the cited sources on each fact for the evidence trail.

Published field notes

2026-01-11

Pea aphid

Aphids are born already carrying their own young

A summer pea aphid gives birth to live daughters that are themselves already carrying developing embryos. Three generations exist inside one animal at once, which is why an aphid colony can appear on a plant in days.

Read with evidence →

Pea aphid | Daily Animal Facts