Overview and progress of the document: Description of aphids > Life cycle of aphids > Infestation and destruction of aphids > Important to find aphid resistance > Our project > specific parents used (G. soya and G. max) > Specific process used > my role in the process Aphid DescriptionAphis Glycines, or soybean aphid, is one of the main threats to soybean crops. Aphids are native to Asia, but were discovered in 2002 in southern Minnesota and northern Wisconsin. Since 2002, aphids have spread dramatically to more than twenty states and three Canadian provinces. Aphids average about 1/16 inch in length and have pear-shaped bodies that are green or yellow in color. These aphids can be winged or wingless (as described later in the soybean aphid life cycle), but both can be located on the plant at the same time (Cullen, 2010). Aphid Life CycleThe aphid mates and lays its eggs on the buckthorn plant. , which is the overwintering host of aphids, before migrating to the soybean plant. They lay their winter eggs on the buckthorn plant in late fall, where they will remain until spring, when temperatures begin to reach 50 degrees Fahrenheit and above. Once the aphids hatch in the spring, they will have 2 to 3 generations with sexual reproduction on the Buckthorn plant. After their reproduction, the winged females will migrate towards the soybean. What is significant about these winged females is that they are fertile without mating and will bear live young once they migrate to the soybean. By colonizing the soybean plant, aphids can have up to 18 generations of females. After these 18 generations, at the end of summer, the winged females will migrate to the buckthorn plants where they will meet the males. They will then mate and deposit... middle of paper ...... a PCR with specified markers so we can find our desirable gene and replicate it. Works Cited Cheng, RL, Wang, SY, Bao, XZ, Xu, EP and Xie, WM (1984). Soybean aphid prediction from overwintering eggs. 56-61.Cullen, E. (January 2010). Soybean aphid (wisteria aphids). Retrieved May 12, 2010 from UW Soybean Plant Health: http://www.plantpath.wisc.edu/soyhealth/aglycine.htmKartesz, J.T. (1994). Plant profile. Retrieved May 12, 2010 from USDA NRCS: http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=GLMA4Pedersen, P. (October 17, 2007). Soybean aphid. Retrieved May 12, 2010 from the Iowa State University Soybean Research and Extension Program: http://extension.agron.iastate.edu/soybean/diseases_aphids.htmlRagsdale, D. (2009) . Soybean aphid. Retrieved May 12, 2010 from Plant Health Initiative: http://www.planthealth.info/aphids_basics.htm