Sitobion chanikiwiti (Eastop 1959)

Victor, Eastop, F. & Blackman, Roger L., 2005, Some new synonyms in Aphididae (Hemiptera: Sternorrhyncha), Zootaxa 1089, pp. 1-36 : 21

Sitobion chanikiwiti (Eastop 1959) = Sitobion leelamaniae (David 1958) Sitobion howlandae (Eastop 1959) = Sitobion leelamaniae (David 1958)

S. leelamaniae was described from grasses and cereals ( Eleusine , Pennisetum , Sorghum ) in southern India. It has since been recorded from Sri Lanka and there is also a record from Africa ( Cameroon). The African species S. chanikiwiti and S. howlandae described one year later are very similar, occur on a similar range of hosts, and are not reliably distinguishable on slides from leelamaniae . The observed differences in colour in life and in the form and length of hairs between S. chanikiwiti and S. howlandae may be ascribable to genetic polymorphism and/or environmental influences. Populations identified as S. chanikiwiti are widely distributed in eastern Africa, with a record also from Réunion, and a possible host­alternation in Burundi with Hagenia abyssinica as primary host ( Remaudière & Autrique 1985). It seems probable that the aphid described from south India is an anholocyclic population of a Sitobion native to Africa. In the absence of any evidence to the contrary we propose that both chanikiwiti and howlandae should be treated as synonyms of leelamaniae .