Mitrapsylla albalineata Crawford, 1914

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 : 51

Mitrapsylla albalineata Crawford, 1914

( Fig. 148 )

Materials examined. USA: Florida: Specimens from Collier, Lee, Miami-Dade, and Sarasota counties ( FSCA, dry and slide mounted, ethanol).

Diagnosis. Forewings are yellow. The lines on the head and thorax are outlined in bright white callous.

Distribution. Neotropics ( El Salvador, Mexico, Nicaragua, Venezuela) ( Ouvrard 2020), USA (FL) ( Halbert 2002).

Host plants. Senna Mill. spp. ( Fabaceae ).

Comments. Mitrapsylla albalineata was discovered for the first time in Florida on 26.iii.2002 at a nursery in Miami (Miami-Dade County) on Senna polyphylla (Jacq.) Irwin and Barneby (Fabaceae) by DPI inspector Duraid I. Hanna (FSCA# E2002-1005) ( Fig. 148 ). More specimens were collected from the same location in August and September 2002 (FSCA#s E2002-4022, 4475, 4693). A population was found at the Fruit and Spice Park in Homestead (Miami-Dade County) in May 2003 on Senna pendula (Willd.) H.S. Irwin and Barneby (FSCA# E2003-2160). One specimen was collected in Collier County on 20.iv.2017 (FSCA# E2017-1590), and a population was found at a nursery in Sarasota County on 27.ix.2019 (FSCA# E2019-5455). The more recent collections indicate that this species is still around and possibly moving in nursery trade.

Prior to its discovery in Florida, M. albalineata was known only from Mexico, Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Venezuela ( Hodkinson and White 1981). The Florida host is Senna , on which it is a pest, causing severe leaf curling and distortion ( Fig. 148 ). A single primary parasite, Psyllaephagus sp. ( Hymenoptera : Encyrtidae ), was obtained from the colony collected on 2.x.2002 from the infested nursery. There have been a few subsequent collections, but the species has not become a widespread pest, even though the plant is a popular ornamental.

Figures

Figures 139–148. Psyllidae. 139) Telmapsylla minuta: teneral adult, in profile. 140) Telmapsylla minuta: immature with tubular wax secretion filled with honeydew. 141) Acizzia jamatonica: female, in profile. 142) Acizzia jamatonica: oblique dorsal view. 143) Acizzia jamatonica: eggs. 144) Acizzia jamatonica: immatures. 145) Euceropsylla martorelli: female. 146) Euceropsylla russoi: female. 147) Heteropsylla fusca: female. 148) Damage by immatures of Mitrapsylla albolineata on Senna polyphylla. (Photos by Lyle Buss, University of Florida, Entomology Department: 139–146; Jeff Lotz, FDACS, DPI: 147; Susan Halbert, FDACS, DPI: 148).