Sap activity, which transforms excess ingested sugar into long-chain oligosaccharides." A much larger set of animals do however consume phloem sap by proxy, either "through feeding on the honeydew of phloem-feeding hemipterans. Honeydew is physiologically less extreme than phloem sap, with a higher essential:non-essential amino acid ratio and lower osmotic pressure," or by feeding on the biomass of insects that have grown on more direct ingestion of phloem sap. Maple syrup is made from reduced sugar maple xylem sap. The sap often is harvested from the Sugar Maple, "Acer saccharum". In some countries (e.g., Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Belarus, Russia) harvesting
Black bean aphid by the aphid to improve the flow of sap. To obtain enough protein, aphids need to suck large volumes of sap. The excess sugary fluid, honeydew, is secreted by the aphids. It adheres to plants, where it promotes growth of sooty molds. These are unsightly, reduce the surface area of the plant available for photosynthesis and may reduce the value of the crop. These aphids are also the vectors of about 30 plant viruses, mostly of the nonpersistent variety. The aphids may not be the original source of infection, but are instrumental in spreading the virus through the crop. Various