The pea aphid, a type of insect, contains light-capturing pigments in its exoskeleton. Scientists hypothesize that pea aphids gained the ability to synthesize these pigments from genes transferred from fungi during evolution. While pea aphids do not have chloroplasts or fix carbon, researchers have found that pea aphids with more pigments have higher levels of ATP than those with fewer pigments. Pea aphids also have been shown to increase production of ATP when exposed to sunlight. Based on this information, is the pea aphid a true autotroph?
