Aphids may have ability to create energy directly from sunlight

Nature : Aphids, which are the only animals known to produce pigments called carotenoids, may use them to synthesize adenosine triphosphate (ATP) from sunlight. ATP is one of the basic forms of chemical energy used by cells. Plants and some other simple organisms produce it through photosynthesis and similar processes, whereas animals usually create it from materials they obtain in their diet. Aphids, however, show a correlation between the amount of carotenoids they produce, which determines their coloring, and the levels of ATP in their bodies. The levels of ATP also appear to depend on how much sunlight the aphids receive. Researchers from the Sophia Agrobiotech Institute near Nice, France, were able to determine that the carotenoids were optimally located in the aphids’ bodies to absorb sunlight and pass on the energy. However, they were cautious about claiming that the aphids are actually creating ATP via photosynthesis.