Cornicle
The cornicle (or siphuncule) is one of a pair of structures on the dorsal side of the sixth abdominal segments of aphids. Siphunculi may consist of cylinders, cones or mere pores, and some species lack them. The surface of siphunculi may have reticulations or polygons (these are two distinct textures), and occasionally setae are present.[1] They are sometimes mistaken for cerci.
These abdominal tubes exude droplets of a quick-hardening defensive fluid[2][page needed] containing triacylglycerols called cornicle wax. There is some confusion in the literature about the function of the cornicle wax secretions. It was common at one time to suggest that the cornicles were the source of the honeydew, and this was even included in the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary[3] and the 2008 edition of the World Book Encyclopedia.[4][page needed] There also is documentation in the literature for cornicle wax luring predators in some cases.[5]
References
[edit]- ↑ "Siphunculus | AphID". idtools.org. Retrieved 2026-07-27.
- ↑ Aphid, Henry G. Stroyan, McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology, 8th Edition, 1997, ISBN 0-07-911504-7
- ↑ Edwards, John S. (1966). "Defence by Smear: Supercooling in the Cornicle Wax of Aphids". Nature. 211 (5044): 73–74. Bibcode:1966Natur.211...73E. doi:10.1038/211073a0. S2CID 4295930.
- ↑ Aphid, Candace Martinson, World Book Encyclopedia, 2008, ISBN 978-0-7166-0108-1
- ↑ Grasswitz, Tessa R.; Paine, Timothy D. (1992). "Kairomonal effect of an aphid cornicle secretion on Lysiphlebus testaceipes (Cresson) (Hymenoptera: Aphidiidae)". Journal of Insect Behavior. 5 (4): 447–457. doi:10.1007/BF01058190. S2CID 25298742.
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