Physiological Adaptations in Aphids and Consequences for Pest Management Strategies

Aphids represent a major threat to agriculture and forestry worldwide, owing to their remarkable physiological and ecological plasticity and their ability to rapidly adapt to pest management strategies. Aphids are phloem-feeding insects living in tight association with symbionts. They display complex life histories characterized by diverse reproductive modes, including cyclical or obligate parthenogenesis, and host-alternating strategies. These traits, combined with short generation times and high fecundity, underpin their exceptional capacity for rapid population growth and plant exploitation.
Adaptive evolution and environmentally induced plastic responses shape a wide range of traits that critically influence aphid pest status, including insecticide resistance, breakdown of plant resistance, evasion of biological control, dispersal capacity, and virus transmission efficiency. Many of these traits rely on physiological mechanisms that allow aphids to cope with fluctuating environments and pest control strategies.
Recent research has established aphids as powerful model organisms for investigating phenotypic plasticity, rapid adaptation, and microevolutionary processes. Increasing environmental variability—driven by climate change, altered cropping systems, and intensified agricultural practices—exerts strong selective pressures on aphid populations. At the same time, widespread reliance on chemical insecticides has led to the repeated and independent evolution of resistance in numerous aphid species. Similarly, plant resistance traits and biological control strategies are frequently overcome by aphid populations, raising major concerns for sustainable pest management.
Despite their economic and ecological importance, significant knowledge gaps remain regarding how aphids respond to natural and anthropogenic pressures at molecular and physiological levels. Understanding how adaptive evolution and plasticity shape key life-history traits, reproductive strategies, and ecological interactions is essential for predicting aphid responses to future environmental change and for designing innovative and durable control strategies.
This Research Topic aims to advance our understanding of aphid adaptation and its consequences for pest management. We seek contributions that elucidate the mechanisms underlying adaptive evolution and phenotypic plasticity in aphids, in particular those responsible for enhanced resilience to insecticides, plant resistance, biological control, and assess how these processes influence the success or failure of current management approaches. By integrating molecular biology, physiology, evolutionary ecology, and applied entomology, this collection aims to bridge fundamental research and practical applications, ultimately contributing to more sustainable aphid control strategies.
We welcome original research articles, reviews, and perspectives addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:
• Genetic, molecular, and physiological mechanisms of reproductive strategies
• Evolutionary and physiological bases of insecticide resistance
• Mechanisms underlying the breakdown of plant resistance and the evasion of biological control
• Phenotypic plasticity and adaptive responses to climate change and nutritional stress
• Physiological determinants of dispersal strategies and vector competence
• Development and evaluation of innovative, sustainable aphid management strategies
This Research Topic aims to provide a comprehensive and integrative perspective on aphid adaptation, fostering advances in both fundamental understanding and applied pest management.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Review
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: Aphid adaptation, Insecticide resistance, Phenotypic plasticity, Reproductive strategies, Environmental stress, Host plant interactions, Sustainable pest management

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.