Leuronota fagarae Burckhardt, 1988

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 : 63

Leuronota fagarae Burckhardt, 1988

Materials examined. USA: Florida: Specimens from Alachua, Brevard, Broward, Hillsborough, Miami-Dade, Palm Beach, Sarasota, and St. Lucie counties; culture vouchers from DPI laboratory culture ( FSCA, dry and slide mounted; dry-preserved galled leaves).

Diagnosis. Leuronota fagarae is a very slender psyllid with dark forewings. Separated from other Florida psyllids as indicated in the keys above.

Distribution. Paraguay ( Burckhardt 1988), USA (FL) ( Halbert 2001c).

Host plants. Zanthoxylum fagara (L.) Sarg. ( Rutaceae ).

Comments. Leuronota fagarae was recognized first in North America when a population was found by DPI inspectors Mark Runnals and Phillip Baioni on Zanthoxylum fagara at a nursery in Sarasota (Sarasota County, FSCA#s E2001-2772, 2909, 3222). This psyllid was described from Paraguay, and, prior to its discovery in Florida, it was not known to occur outside of South America. The Sarasota infestation was traced to another nursery in Delray Beach (Palm Beach County) (FSCA# E2001-3353). Other infestations were found in Palm Beach County at Atlantic Dunes Park (FSCA#s E2001-3352, 3353), a private park in Miami (Miami-Dade County, E2001-3552) and in a greenhouse in Gainesville ( Alachua County, FSCA # E2002-5273). The populations at the original Sarasota nursery and in the greenhouse were eradicated. Examination of old unknown psyllid collections in the FSCA revealed a collection by F. Smith on 19.vi.1981 from Cape Canaveral (Brevard County) Florida, also collected from Z. fagara . This collection is our earliest record for this species. There are more recent collections from Lee (FSCA# 2009-1025), Hendry (FSCA# E2009-5500), St. Lucie (FSCA# E2009-8965), and Collier (FSCA# E2012- 2666) counties. Zanthoxylum spp. are considered medicinal plants in parts of South America, so we speculate that L. fagarae arrived on living Zanthoxylum plants or plant parts imported for personal use.

Immatures roll the edges of the leaflets adjacent to the petiole. The psyllid did not appear to colonize or feed on citrus trees near heavily infested Zanthoxylum . The species is cultured easily on Z. fagara , and it did not colonize other Florida species of Zanthoxylum or Citrus in the laboratory ( Russell et al. 2014). Transmission of Florida Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus has not been demonstrated, and so far, the pathogen has not been found in Z. fagara .