Glycaspis brimblecombei Moore, 1964

Halbert, Susan E. & Burckhardt, Daniel, 2020, The psyllids (Hemiptera: Psylloidea) of Florida: newly established and rarely collected taxa and checklist, Insecta Mundi 2020 (788), pp. 1-88 : 27-29

Glycaspis brimblecombei Moore, 1964

( Fig. 95, 96 )

Materials examined. Brazil, Mexico (see below). USA: Florida: Specimens from Collier, Glades, Highlands, Hillsborough, Indian River, Lee, Orange County, Palm Beach, Pinellas, Polk, and Sarasota counties. ( FSCA, dry and slide mounted, ethanol).

Diagnosis. Easily recognized by the conical lerps that form on leaves of the host plants ( Fig. 95 ). Infested trees ( Fig. 96 ) often are dripping with honeydew and old lerps. Red gum lerp psyllid adults look very similar to those of B. melaleucae , the biological control agent for M. quinquenervia . See discussion under the latter species and generic key for an explanation of the differences.

Distribution. Glycaspis brimblecombei originates from eastern Australia and occurs today (adventive) in North and South America, the Mediterranean Region, sub-Saharan Africa, New Zealand and Hawaii ( Queiroz et al. 2013; CABI 2019).

Host plants. Eucalyptus spp. ( Myrtaceae ), especially E. camaldulensis Dehnh. and E. tereticornis Sm. but also on E. blakelyi Maiden, E. brasssiana S.T. Blake, E. bridgesiana R.T. Baker, E. camphora R.T. Baker, E. dealbata Schauer, E. diversicolor F. Muell., E. globulus Labill., E. mannifera Mudie, E. maculosa R.T. Baker, E. nitens Maiden, and E. sideroxylon Woolls. ( Ouvrard 2020).

Comments. Glycaspis brimblecombei is the most serious pest of Eucalyptus among the eucalypt psyllids ( Brennan and Gill 1999; Halbert et al. 2001; Queiroz et al. 2013). The lerps and the honeydew secreted by the psyllids are sticky, and infested leaves become coated with sticky residue from the psyllids and with sooty mold. Severe defoliation and death of trees can occur. The infestations cause a troublesome sticky mess, particularly in urban sites. The humid climate in Florida appears not to be ideal for this species, and it is found mostly in the dry spring months. At first, populations were numerous in the spring but subsided during our subtropical summers. Currently, numbers apparently are very low, but there are occasional suction trap collections in Immokalee (Collier County).

Glycaspis brimblecombei was found to be established on Eucalyptus in Florida at an amusement park in the Orlando (Orange County) area in April 2001 by DPI inspectors Barbara Wilder and Amanda Melco (FSCA# E2001-1296) ( Halbert 2001a). Subsequent surveys indicated the infestation was fairly localized and heaviest surrounding a dumpster in a holding area for new landscape plants. The likely source of the infestation was imported Eucalyptus trees from California. We have one earlier record of an interception on cut flowers from California found in April 2000 in Thonotosassa (Hillsborough County) (FSCA# E2000-1136).

During the spring and summer of 2000, the infestation of G. brimblecombei spread to surrounding communities within Orange County ( Oakland : FSCA # E2001-1843 ; Apopka: (FSCA#s E2001-2109, 2110, 3532); Taft: ( FSCA # E2001-2541 ). In June 2003, the new pest was detected in Sarasota (Sarasota County) in Southwest Florida by Bertila Gomez and Julieta Brambila ( FSCA # E2003-2302 ). This species has become established on Eucalyptus in the central Florida peninsula .

Glycaspis brimblecombei also was detected in Mexico for the first time in Aguascalientes in November 2001 by Bertila Gomez (FSCA# E2002-55). Glycaspis brimblecombei also was found in Matão, São Paulo, Brazil in suction trap collections beginning in 2006 (FSCA# E2007-701).

Calophyidae Vondráček, 1957

Calophyinae Vondráček, 1957

Calophya Löw, 1879

Key to Florida species of Calophya

1. Genae rounded, not produced into conical processes. On Spondias purpurea L. ( Anacardiaceae )........................................................ C. spondiadis Burckhardt and Mendez

— Genae produced into conical processes. On other hosts....................................... 2

2(1). Genal processes shorter than vertex along mid-line, conical. On native hosts, not Schinus L......... 3

— Genal processes about as long as vertex along mid-line, very slender, tubular. On Schinus L. (Anacardia- ceae)............................................................................... 4

3(2). Forewing membrane colorless. Host unknown.............................. C. arcuata Caldwell

— Forewing membrane conspicuously dark brown or almost black. On Rhus copallinum L. ( Anacardiaceae ).................................................................... C. nigripennis Riley

4(2). Head and thorax pitch black, strongly contrasting with green or yellow abdomen................................................................... * C. terebinthifolii Burckhardt and Basset

— Body coloration entirely green or yellow.................................................... 5

5(4). Distal segment of aedeagus almost as long as proctiger; basal stalk more than three-quarters of total segmental length. Female terminalia long, proctiger with apical spiniform process. On Schinus molle L....................................................................... * C. schini Tuthill

— Distal segment of aedeagus distinctly shorter than proctiger; basal stalk less than half of the total segmental length. Female terminalia short, proctiger without apical spiniform process. On Schinus terebinthifolia Raddi. ................................................................. 6

6(5). Forewing with surface spinules leaving relatively narrow spinule-free stripes along the veins. Male proctiger, in lateral view, broad....................................... * C. latiforceps Burckhardt

— Forewing with surface spinules leaving relatively broad spinule-free stripes along the veins. Male proctiger, in lateral view, narrow.......................................... * C. lutea Burckhardt

Figures

Figures 92–96. Spondyliaspidinae. 92) Adult of Blastopsylla occidentalis. 93) Adult of Boreioglycaspis melaleucae. 94) Fifth instar immature of Boreioglycaspis melaleucae. 95) Adult and lerps of Glycaspis brimblecombei. 96) Infestation of Glycaspis brimblecombei. (Photos by Susan Wright, USDA, ARS: 92; Lyle Buss, Entomology Department, University of Florida: 93, 94; Susan Halbert: 95, 96).