As stated at Nature:
The biology of aphids is bizarre: they can be born pregnant and males sometimes lack mouths, causing them to die not long after mating. In an addition to their list of anomalies, work published this week indicates that they may also capture sunlight and use the energy for metabolic purposes.
Aphids, according to the article, are the only animals able to synthesize
carotenoids (which are used by all animals but are only acquired through diet for all animals except aphids), and they may use carotenoids to generate
ATP in a process similar to
photosynthesis. Plaints and algae and some fungi and bacteria synthesize carotenoids and use them for photosynthesis. To me, this is just, well, amazing. Via
jwz.
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