Paracletus cimiciformis

Paracletus cimiciformis is native to much of Europe and has been recorded in North Africa and Asia.

The life cycle of P. cimiciformis is complex. For most of the year, wingless females are produced parthenogenetically, but in the late summer on their secondary hosts (grass), winged males and females are produced which fly to their primary host, the terebinth tree. Here they mate and overwintering eggs are laid. In the spring these hatch and the wingless females that develop create swollen galls on the leaves; they live in these galls and reproduce asexually. In late summer some winged females develop which fly off and colonise the roots of grasses. Some of these aphids are carried into their nests by ants, where they overwinter, emerging in the spring to recolonise the roots of their secondary hosts, the whole cycle taking two years.